[hhott71]

Nope, No more wisdom.
You checked everything and it is all still as stated above,,,, It's probably something simple that has been over looked,,,
How is the Power valve? I think that carb has a blow out protecter, but just in case it failed, you might check it too.

[Brentmc]

I want to close the loop on my specific Blueprint engine tuning journey.

My problem was my carb and my timing.

FWIW--Here are my current overall specs:
383 Blueprint stroker motor
Holley 4160 750 CFM carb
700R4 trans with 3,000 stall 9.5" torque converter
Moser 3.73 posi rear
MSD 8360 distributor

First, Blueprint customer service was an A+. The lead tech at Blueprint has called me at home twice to check up on my motor and offer advice. He also asked me to call him back to keep him informed. First class service.

As for the motor, I finally gave up after 18 months of struggling to get it to run and turned it over to a local mechanic known for doing good work. The car now runs fantastic and feels like I gained 150Hp+.

I am experiencing some traction problems though--I gave it 3/4 throttle at 30 MPH and the tires broke loose and the car went sideways with the tires screaming and smoking...I guess I need better tires than the T/A radials that are on it.

I bought a new torque convertor from RevMax, thinking that would solve my problem. I was running an 1800 stall convertor in my 700R4 and upgraded to a 9.5" 3,000 stall convertor. This was not the source of the whole problem (but the 1800 stall torque convertor is now for sale)

Here is what he did:
--Swapped my Holley 670 CFM Street Avenger for a Holley 4160 750 CFM that he had tuned for use on his own race car. He had heavily modded the 4160 and then spent a few hours tuning it for my car. He enlarged the air bleeds and a whole bunch of other things that I did not completely understand.

-Unhooked the vacuum advance completely.

-Recurved my MSD 8360 distributor to get the timing in earlier.

-Set my total timing to 36 degrees. My initial is at 22 degrees.

And the car idles very well, the sound of the exhaust has completely changed and it starts immediately.

The price for all the tuning work plus I kept his carb was $275. I consider that a really good deal for all the work he put into it. (the price to swap the torque convertor was another $350).

Comments on this set-up are welcome.

Thanks to TC for walking me through this and thanks to Andrew and Ken at Blueprint for their oustanding customer service.

[PA Camaro Guy]

Hey there! I've been waiting for this post to come back around again, really glad that you see the value in seeing it through.

I have a question... is that initial timing figure correct? Looks very unusual to me.

thanks!
Brian

[cool rocking daddy]

Yes, the initial is not unusual. Many performance cams like and need more intial than the weak 8 degrees before TDC. You have to change the amount of mechanical advance in the distributor to 12-14 degrees to run that amount of initial. It's the modern way to time an engine.

[PA Camaro Guy]

Sorry I still don't follow. I'm not doubting that this setup is working out well. But I am trying to better understand a circumstance where this approach can be tried. Most small blocks run around 12-14 initial and moderately aggressive cams aren't new. The cam specs in my signature are for the 405 HP Blueprint Engine, his is either this one or the 430HP. So that cam might have a few extra degrees in it but I'd still call mine only "moderately" aggressive than stock. I'm at 12, per Blueprint.

[Brentmc]

Brian,

The 22 initial is correct.

the motor remains the exact spec that came from blueprint.

I would have thought that amount of timing as too much but the car runs great and I have a lot of trust in this mechanic. He has raced and driven F-bodies and Cobras for 40+ years.

[PA Camaro Guy]

You have the 430 HP roller?

[Brentmc]

I have the 404hp/440tq non-roller

[STM69]

Does the 383 require a small base circle cam? I believe thats what they told me when asked years ago. I'm wanting to buy the 383 forged block but I heard a small base circle cam wasn't the best choice.

[STM69]

Nevermind. Blueprint told me they use remanafactured blocks instead of new, and they do require a small base circle cam unlike the ZZ383 block that is new comes with dampner and flex plate and has been clearanced for a standard circle cam for a few hundred more.

[PA Camaro Guy]

On the particular BP motor this thread is discussing- the crank is a cast crank and the lifters are not roller so they are limiting the revs to I think 5500. I guess you can get away with that cam whereas tougher applications are going to require the bigger cam.