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946 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Jake69chevelle, 
J
I got a 69 chevelle with 454 in it i got a edelbrock perfomer intake and a 750 cfm edelbrock carb on it and the hei distributor i can only crank out 5,000 rpms is that all a 454 can put out or do i need to change something
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G
What cam, valvesprings, and heads are you using?

Also...what happens at 5000rpm? Does it just run out of power...or is it dramatic? Like popping, sputtering, or anything like that. Does it happen in every gear at 5000, or just top gear at 5000?

Faulty ignition can definitely cause issues with making RPM, but we would have to verify everything else just to make sure its not obivously something else.

I guess a good question to ask would be, did you ever have any other ignition on this motor? And if you did...how did the motor run with the other igition? If the problems started immediately after swapping distributors, then an ignition problem either caused by, or as a result of the new distributor would be the safest place to look.

Did you bypass the factory resistor wire and make sure that HEI distributor is getting a full 12 volt signal?
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G
what year 454? A 454 wouldnt have been original to a 69. The 454 didnt come around til 70.

And what about that resistor wire? How did you wire the HEI up?
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G
Yeah numbers would help. casting number, and the numbers off of the front with the suffix code would help determine the year.

Some stock 454's were plenty healthy. Course...there are a bunch out there that ended up in trucs that were total slugs in stock form. I drove one in a full sized dump that couldnt make it to 5K if its life depended on it. Power right off idle til around 4K at best in the big heavy truck.

Just depends on the engine build. Could be major valve float... could be that ignition.

Which painless? I have a painless harness for a 50's truck street rod project and I ordered it with the intent of using electronic ingition, so all would be well. But if you have access to a multimemter....I suggest making sure you have full 12 volts at the distributor.
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