I posted this question in the Troubleshooting Section but have no replies yet: I need a recommendation for a performance tuner and troubleshooter in the Houston area, preferably north side. Since having a 406 rebuilt six years but not many miles ago, I have always battled 2 problems:1)Detonation during hard and sometimes moderate acceleration 2)Excessive oil consumption. I've been able to make the car run on pump premium without detonation for long periods of time only to have it return. I've given up hope that because of the low mileage the rings haven't sealed completely and am thinking that even though the heads were supposed to have been thoroughly gone through, I've got bad valve guides and/or seals. Symptoms are blue smoke on start up and continual bad exhaust smell. Latest problem is the engine seems to love running cold with no problems during spring weather, but after bout 10 minutes it idles rough, wants to overcome my efforts to keep stopped at lights using the brakes, has a lack of power, with some mild detonation and a bad exhaust tone. Per my mechanic's diagnosis I've had the Edelbrock Performer 750 rebuilt and replaced a bad alternator with a 12SI 94 amp internally regulated one. My local garage means well, but the problem remains and they don't have the performance tuning skills to tweak the ignition timing and carb for optimum performance.

i lived and worked in houston a few years back.there use to be winklers garage on hempstead hy.they use to be good with old chevys

I can't really recommend anyone, as I don't live there, BUT I will moving there in the fall, btw.

There are quite a few Houston TC'ers on here, so maybe someone can tell you where to go or they might be willing to look at it themselves. ;)

Anyway, it sounds like you might have a couple of issues. First, I would check for a vacuum leak. That can cause detonation, poor performance and a host of things. I chased one for more than a year till I found it.

Could be that your rings didn't seat, maybe excessive piston-to-cylinder wall clearance. Smoking on startup is usually bad valve seals.

Hmmm...I wonder if someone forgot to offset all of the ring gaps on a piston or 2. That could cause a ton of blow-by, low compression and poor performance as well.

My advice is to do it like this: CVICIC

That means:

Compression test
Valve adjustment
Ignition curve check
Carburetor tuning
Ignition curve re-check
Carburetor final check

Follow those steps and you're bound to find something. Good luck and keep us posted. I'd like to know how your situation turns out. smile.gif

P.S. Please give us your complete combo, including engine, tranny, converter and rear-end, etc. Sometimes, if you have a fairly rowdy motor without a performance converter, you can have idle problems. Might have a problem with the car creeping at stoplights, but I'm not sure on that point.

Justin,

We are looking forward to seeing you & April again.

When I lived in Houston (Friendwsood) a few years ago there was a guy by the name of William McLemore who is real sharp on engine tune-ups. At that time he was running a very competitive early Corvette in NHRA Super Stock/Modified class. As I recall, his shop was in the South Houston/Pasadena area. Hope this helps.

BTW - he goes by William, not Bill. (nor Billy, BillyBob, Bubba, etc.)

You might not have a timming problem at all. If the engine is really using oil than the detonation is most likely the oil itself. Excess oil in the chamber will cause a hard detonation.
Mark

Go to "www.dragstripaction.com",there are some very knowledgeable and friendly people their who can help.

I'm kinda in the same boat. My 454 runs OK, but could be a lot better I think. Also have an Edelbrock Performer carb. Also in Houston.

I talked to the guy who owns Camaro Concepts (http://www.camaroconcepts.com) , and he referred me to G&S Automotive (http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ&tuid=7982095&ck=3352828677&tab=B2C&tcat=7844597&city=Houston&state=TX&zip=77030-3504&uzip=77030&country=us&msa=3360&cs=9&ed=DvIHka160SypM9D9rXwJm36NUBHlibAd6LNe.cBv1kIUGbR F18cyxhRK0VsJ9AKf2L.pD.ZAwO0ReT_z&stat=:pos:7:regular:regT:20:fbT:0) , specifically a guy named Sam there.

I've talked to Sam a little bit on the phone, but have not taken my car there yet. I plan to get over there someday soon. You might want to give him a look. If you go there before I do, please let me know what you think. I'll do the same if I get there first...

Thanks to everyone for the advice! Since I posted this I've been figuring out how much I owe the IRS this year and where to find the bucks to pay it. I have also suspected many of the problems suggested such as excessive oil causing detonation rather than timing and excessive cylinder/wall clearance. Bought what I thought was a fresh rebulit 406 from a Buddy who had bought and never run it from someone he had considered a buddy. Turned out I had to have everything torn down. Cylinders rehoned not rebored due to some scoring. Fresh looking heads had "about a 1 angle valve job" instead of at least 3 angles,etc. Spent more than a ZZ3 crate motor would have cost me to correct everything. 71 400(+.030) block and 71 heads. Cast flat tops with 2 valve reliefs per piston. Rings unknown. Comp Cams Magnum roller tip rockers with hardened pushrods (no guides). Unknown type valve guide seals. Edelbrock Performer (not RPM) intake with Edelbrock Perf 750 carb w/elec choke. Stewart hi-flow water pump. Dynamax ceramic coated headers with 1 5/8' primaries. Torque Tech 2 1/2 " exhausts w/straight crossover. HEI with Accel Supercoil, MSD module and Crane adjustable vacuum advance. Believe curved to all advance in by 2800rpm. TH350 trans with Transgo shiftkit. 2:73 open 12 bolt rear. Hope this helps and someone still checks this post. Thanks

Forgot to mention my cam: Comp Cams 268H (218/218 at .050). .454 lift. Thanks.

Originally posted by gigem:
I'm kinda in the same boat. My 454 runs OK, but could be a lot better I think. Also have an Edelbrock Performer carb. Also in Houston.

I talked to the guy who owns Camaro Concepts (http://www.camaroconcepts.com) , and he referred me to G&S Automotive (http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ&tuid=7982095&ck=3352828677&tab=B2C&tcat=7844597&city=Houston&state=TX&zip=77030-3504&uzip=77030&country=us&msa=3360&cs=9&ed=DvIHka160SypM9D9rXwJm36NUBHlibAd6LNe.cBv1kIUGbR F18cyxhRK0VsJ9AKf2L.pD.ZAwO0ReT_z&stat=:pos:7:regular:regT:20:fbT:0) , specifically a guy named Sam there.

I've talked to Sam a little bit on the phone, but have not taken my car there yet. I plan to get over there someday soon. You might want to give him a look. If you go there before I do, please let me know what you think. I'll do the same if I get there first... For everyone in Houston... Sam is THE MAN! Super nice guy, and he's a Chevelle guy from way back, has a 72 Chevelle show car, an El Camino show car, races a Nova. He clearly knows these cars and likes them. My car is there now.

When I lived in Houston (Friendwsood) a few years ago there was a guy by the name of William McLemore who is real sharp on engine tune-ups. At that time he was running a very competitive early Corvette in NHRA Super Stock/Modified class. As I recall, his shop was in the South Houston/Pasadena area. Hope this helps. McLemore's shop is on Preston Rd in Pasadena, between Spencer and Fairmont.

Thanks for the replies. After an email from Gigem today that his car was over at G&S Automotive, I'm going to follow up with him when he gets his car back to see how things went. G&S, while not around the corner by any means is a lot closer than South Houston/Pasadena, although I'm willing to drive far for a resolution.

Originally posted by Bruce_H_Miller:
Thanks for the replies. After an email from Gigem today that his car was over at G&S Automotive, I'm going to follow up with him when he gets his car back to see how things went. G&S, while not around the corner by any means is a lot closer than South Houston/Pasadena, although I'm willing to drive far for a resolution. Sam is a straight up guy. My car is running great. I recommend him.

FYI, there was a late 60's Buick GS in his shop being worked on when I got there this morning. This afternoon, there was a 1970 Chevelle and a late 60's Corvette. Sam is a muscle car guy, for sure...

Just discovered one reason car running badly. Distributor hold down must have loosened as I just measured 18 deg initial timing with my gun. Backed off to 12 deg where it was before I had a bunch of other work done and runs much better, although the engine is still missing.