440 lack of power

[kokxville]

right from the start   

[don duick]

my 440 also lacked power it was a fresh rebuild with 10.3 to 1 compression. found 3 reasons,

weak ignition

not enough advance in timing

restrictive exhaust.

installed a msd 6a box with msd blaster coil to my mp distributor {has adjustable advance}remove resistor and do not rely on ignition wire for full 12 volts hook up a relay, msd boxes don't like a voltage drop.

set initial timing to about 16 degrees disconnect vacuum advance total timing is about 35 degrees  had a new orange box before. it was a total piece of crap or I got one that was a dud.

I thought I had 2.5 inch mufflers but when I looked in the outlet about 6 or 7 inches inside the outlet pipe the inside diameter was only 2.25 they were choking the motor. I put 2.5 straight through mufflers

anyway these three things really woke up my 440 goes great now.  Its easy to talk about after the event but I was tearing my hair out hope yours turns out to be simple and obvious. do compression test and find out cam size. if low compression and big cam go back to small cam. if real low compression like about 120 then forget about it your wasting your time. if someone else has touched this motor then check to see if cam/timing chain installed correctly it is easy to install  one tooth out or better still degree the cam. mine was installed straight up and is out by one degree which I could not fix so did not worry about it. and there could be someone who reads this and thinks I am a total F@#$wit