Need more information.
No power, as will not start or will not run as fast as you thought.

 

put gas in it! :thumbsup:

 

Hi J.R.
We need more info to be able to help with your lack of or "no power."

We need to know what you intend to use the car for: Daily driver/cruiser, street/strip...

Next, what are the specs of your engine and how it's tuned.
Compression? Heads and valve size? Complete cam specs? intake manifold? Carb? Exhaust?

What distributor do you have and what do you have the timing set at?
Base timing (at idle) and total timing (the max amount of timing ya get when revved up with vac advance unplugged), if using vacuum advance, is it hooked to ported vac or full manifold vacuum?

Also Trans (stick or auto, converter)? Rear end gear ratio?

Also give a good explanation of what you are experiencing when you say "no power." Does it bog, just feel weak or run out of power at a low RPM? Please be specific!

 

As the others said, list as much info as you can. But my guess is you have a low compression, small cammed engine, or as some might call it a "tow truck" engine. Probably a bunch of torque, but not going to rev very high and won't feel too powerful.

 

A stock 454 will have plenty of tire frying torque.Even with 8 to 1 compression.
One with a mild cam and a 750 double pumper will have noticeable performance over a stocker.

There are two things that are probably wrong..you don't have wide open throttle,meaning even though the gas pedal is to the floor,the carb itself isn't opening all the way..in this case you loosed the carb nut and move the bracket towards the firewall.
Your timing is retarded.You want a total of 36-38* all in by 3000 rpms or sooner..and this doesn't include the vacuum advance.

 

A stock 454 will have plenty of tire frying torque.Even with 8 to 1 compression.

"like it fell out of a tree"! I love that quote

 

thanks for the replies. it has no tire frying power it dont even want to spin the tires in gravel. i dont know the gear ratio. it is single traction rearend stock gears. the motor and heads where checked at machine shop. the throttle is opening all the way.

 

it does run and idles great its when you start taking off it doesnt have any power.timing is set at 10 but i dont know what the overall timing is. thanks guys im learning alot here. oh and its just gonna be driver to go to cruise ins and sunday drives. not looking to race. just to enjoy and cruise around. ive owned this car since 1995 and never been out on the road with it eception of the deadend street i live on.

 

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The 10 deg you have timing set at is way too retarded by approx 8 deg if your not running a stock GM cam that would generally run 6-8 deg base timing.

Base timing being 8 deg retarded at 10 deg vs 18ish will make it run like a slug/no power just like you describe.

Bump up base timing to 18 deg and see how it feels but ensure total timing isnt over 36-38 deg with the additional base timing.

Thats because too much total timing can cause the motor to detonate esp on todays crappy 93 pump fuel.

A good starting place timing wise for many street perf sbc/bbc motors running non stck ams like comp/lunati/crane/etc run well with approx 18 deg base timing + 18 deg mech in dist all in by 2600rpm or so = 36-38 deg total by 2600ish rpm.

Scott

 

Should be able to get the tire (open rear) spinning easily, and it doesn't want to spin it even on the dirt? Something is up.

Read up on all the timing thread in here. How did you set the timing? Get the idle down as low it will go and still run, and then set it to 16 initial. That should help. You also do want to know what your total timing is and when it's all in by.

Some tuning should get it feeling stronger for you.

 

distributor could have some very stiff springs in it or they could be frozen.Seen that plenty of times over the years.

 

I've got a 75 Monte Carlo with the factory original 454 and Turbo 400. Its got 90,000 miles, 8.1:1 compression and 215 HP. The only changes are: Hedman shorty headers, dual exhaust, 3:42 posi and a shift kit and for what it is I can't complain. It'll lay down 2 black stripes and bark the tires going into second.

 

I just emailed you about this issue as well as I am having the same issue with my Olds 455. Hope you can provide us with what was causing it. Sounds like a beast in park and revs like a champ. Put it in gear and it will sometimes sputter and feel like a ragged out 350 Thing can slowly make its way back up into the garage. How can such a big motor be so castrated? LOL Pulling about 14 for vacuum and had timed to 12 and then 15 degrees. Moved to full manifold vacuum for distributor. I am using a factory GM HEI that may have seen its better days? Tried a different coil and module.....getting same. Could vacuum can cause this much of an issue?