Engine wakeup

[dshanks]

I had planned on replacing the 350/270 from my '71 4spd with a crate motor. Well, that didn't happen. So now that I have the engine bay apart, I still want to do something to it to make it run stronger. The motor is still in good condition, it is mostly stock. But when my dad had it apart last, he said he beefed up the heads a little, but not much. I have a new Q-jet in the box, new Dynomax headers, new pertronix setup, new plugs/wires/cap/rotor.

I have the radiator and support out, so I was thinking about swapping the cam, intake manifold, and maybe the lifters. Provided the engine still holds good compression...

Does anybody have any recommendations as to what parts to add? I thought about a Holley systeMAX setup, but it says the required compression ratio is 9.8:1. I'm doing 8.5 if the motor was new. Edelbrock also has a kit. Any other ideas or good combonations to add to this existing motor. I plan to rebuild soon, so I want the parts to go well with the motor once it is rebuilt too.

Derrick

[lone73]

Derrick,

If you put the Pertronix setup on it I HIGHLY recommend that you cut the center section of the weatherstripping out of the strip that runs around the rear area of the hood. I have heard of numerous folks burning up the modules in those units and resorting to points.

I am running an Accel Gen 6 EFI on my '73 with a small diameter Camaro style distributor, basically similar to your Pertronix. When I installed it I did not have that weatherstrip in place on my car. Ran it for about 18 months and no prob's. I Had the piece of weatherstrip in a box - leftover from buying the whole set a few years prior - just never installed it. One day I decided to glue it on there. About 4 months later my module (in the distributor) burned out. I went through 5 or 6 more modules before I finally made the connection. I cut about 16 inches out of the center of that strip and no prob's since.

Obviously the '75 and later cars had a module via the electronic ignition but they were apparently a more robust design or had better cooling or something. The two connector distributor module that I have definitely has heat issues when used in a vette though, and as I said there have been some issues with burned Pertronix modules in C3 vettes as well. I'm betting also heat related.

Might save you some headaches later...

good luck
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