I have a 350 that has been rebuilt recently. It has a mild cam, headers, intake and holley carb. You know the usual stuff. I did the rebuild. Here goes. It will not turn over 3500 rpm and has no power what so ever. Here's were I have been already. Good compression 175 to 180 across the board, I have tried a couple different carbs. No change. I have hooked a new HEI directly to the battery, to by pass all the wiring. No change. I have pumped gas from a new pump from a can of gas to the carb, to by pass fuel lines. No change. Anyone got some ideas. Thanks in advance.

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Bret Van Fleet
1966 Malibu 396
1967 El Camino
1999 springer
"Cubic inches means never having to say your sorry "

It almost sounds like this engine has a governor on it. That being the case, I have a question about the HEI distributor. Does this particular distributor have a vacuum advance chamber on the side of it? If not, then it's an HEI unit for a car with computer controlled ignition timing. And since you have no computer, the timing is not advancing as the engine speed increases. You must use an early model HEI distributor with both vacuum and mechanical advance.
Check it out and get back with us. We'll go from there.

[This message has been edited by Randy Mosier (edited 02-16-2002).]

Hey Randy, the HEI is 76 ish and does have the advance. I have tried a points distributer I had laying around also. This thing Idles real nice, however as soon as RPM's increase power goes away. Its got me baffeled. Thanks for playing.

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Bret Van Fleet
1966 Malibu 396
1967 El Camino
1999 springer
"Cubic inches means never having to say your sorry "

I know you are not going to like what I am going to tell you, but I think you have the timing chain line up one tooth off. It runs, sound real good, http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif but will not get out it own way. That is timing chain marks off. I hope that is not it, but you are going to have to pull the timing chain cover and look at it. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gifGood Luck Jerry

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67 ELCO 454HO
700R4 3:73 gear
3X2 Tri Power
Team Chevelle #1488

Yeh Jerry, kinda what I am thinking. I know the marks are not off, I triple checked that before puting it together, however I am thinking it was mis-stamped at the factory. It is a comp three keyway chain set. I have had good luck with them in the past. It runs terrible under load though, and I am runnin out of options. Sure hate to mis something easy and pull it apart for nuttin. Thanks for playin.

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Bret Van Fleet
1966 Malibu 396
1967 El Camino
1999 springer
"Cubic inches means never having to say your sorry "

If the ignition system is working properly and there's plenty of fuel delivery, then I'd take a look at the valvetrain. Weak springs could cause the valve to float on one or more cylinders, and this would cause a significant power loss. Although you can check it if you want, the timing chain is probably okay, even if you installed the crank gear on the wrong key slot. I can't see it causing this much power loss. But, once you're certain that the problem isn't fuel or ignition related, or that you don't have a huge vacuum leak somewhere, the timing chain may be the next item on the list that requires inspection.

If all of the above items check out okay, you may have to go back in the engine. This sort of power loss and inability to climb over 3500 RPM could be an indication that something's too tight in there. It could be a rod or main bearing with too little clearance, or a piston that's scuffing in the bores.

[This message has been edited by Randy Mosier (edited 02-19-2002).]

Plugged exhaust.

What happens to the manifold vacuum as the engine speed is increased?

The springs are new, and the rod and main bearings were right on. Also the exhaust is a new flowmaster. I keep thinking the crank gear was indexed wrong. I am thinking about tring the 4 degree advanced position before giving up on that chain set. Then again if the straight up was wrong who knows were the advance is.

How did you break in the cam? Another thing to consider is the possibility that the cam got wiped during break-in. This has happened to more than one member here. Believe it or not, the compression numbers will not tell you if you have a flat cam. Pull the valve covers, remove the spark plugs, then have a friend spin the engine while you observe the movement of the rockers on each cylinder. If you find one or more that's not moving up and down as much as the others, that lobe is bad.

And if you've installed Vortec heads, you cannot use an aftermarket cam with more than .450 lift. If you did, then this might be your problem.

Shurkey could be on to something re: plugged exhaust - how long did it sit waiting for the engine rebuild.
A friend got a "deal" on a Corvette due to power problems - about 4 pounds of dogfood out of the exhaust fixed it.
Rag left in the intake or exhaust??
BIG air leak at manifold?


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Make it the way you like it, forget what the other guys say!
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Well, she is a running good now. It was a tooth(actually two)off. Bad stamping from the factory. It would have been a easy catch if I would have looked at it closer. Let that be a lesson to really take your time with every part of your rebuild. Again, I would like to thank all of you for your help.

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Bret Van Fleet
1966 Malibu 396
1967 El Camino
1999 springer