Is there an optimal setting for the timing?

[myk]

Without a 'tach or a light I would adjust to best manifold vacuum, and then see what the test drives are like.

[BSB67]

38 degrees is 2.38" on the balancer.  No need to buy a dial back light.  One more thing to be wrong and you will be chasing your tale forever trying to figure it out.  I have seen this happen twice, dial backs that were wrong.  And I've only used three.

Just put the make on the balancer, have someone rev it to 3500 rpm, line the 2.38" balancer mark to the "0" degree mark on the tab.

Just curious, why is it 2.38 and not 2.407?  Not that it would make a big difference.

It's the units my yard stick is in.

[68charger440]

38 degrees is 2.38" on the balancer.  No need to buy a dial back light.  One more thing to be wrong and you will be chasing your tale forever trying to figure it out.  I have seen this happen twice, dial backs that were wrong.  And I've only used three.

Just put the make on the balancer, have someone rev it to 3500 rpm, line the 2.38" balancer mark to the "0" degree mark on the tab.

Just curious, why is it 2.38 and not 2.407?  Not that it would make a big difference.

It's the units my yard stick is in.

Can you give me a little more than that.
I thought it would be...
7.25×3.14159
=22.7765275

22.7765275÷360
=0.0632681319

0.0632681319×38
=2.4041890139

[johnnycharger]

So tonight I got it set to 38* total which left it at about 15* initial. It is running quite good. May need a minor degree or two adjustment to either side but is way better than before. Once I get the final dialed in I will let you know where it is at. Probably won't be until the weekend. Next will be on to adjusting my carb floats!
Thank you guys very much for all of your help!  

[firefighter3931]

So tonight I got it set to 38* total which left it at about 15* initial. It is running quite good. May need a minor degree or two adjustment to either side but is way better than before. Once I get the final dialed in I will let you know where it is at. Probably won't be until the weekend. Next will be on to adjusting my carb floats!
Thank you guys very much for all of your help!  

Good work,

The 15/38 should be perfect for that mild street build 


Ron

[BSB67]

So tonight I got it set to 38* total which left it at about 15* initial. It is running quite good. May need a minor degree or two adjustment to either side but is way better than before. Once I get the final dialed in I will let you know where it is at. Probably won't be until the weekend. Next will be on to adjusting my carb floats!
Thank you guys very much for all of your help!  

Good.  Sometimes it does not have to be complicated.

[johnnycharger]

Had some good fun burning gas around town today. The car did great. It is running much smoother and definitely starts much faster than before when the engine is hot.

[johnnycharger]

Finally hooked up the vacuum advance again. It is working great. This is the fastest it's been running for over a decade. 

Now I am looking at changing out my Edelbrock performer intake for an edelbrock DP4B. I see they get great reviews and maybe my hood mat won't rub on my aircleaner. Should this give me a noticeable power increase?

[XH29N0G]

My guess is that the changes will not have a very clear difference, but they are fun to make.  I played around with my 383 for a while with intake, headers, carb, heads, cam, etc....  It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot by making mistakes along the way.  It also made incremental differences, some I noticed and others I did not.  The biggest effect was when I changed the gears in my rear end.  (Also the most expensive single change). 

See what others say.  The key is probably to see what you are using the car for and how you enjoy it most. 

[BSB67]

Finally hooked up the vacuum advance again. It is working great. This is the fastest it's been running for over a decade. 

Now I am looking at changing out my Edelbrock performer intake for an edelbrock DP4B. I see they get great reviews and maybe my hood mat won't rub on my aircleaner. Should this give me a noticeable power increase?

If you are looking for the experience, go for it.  If you are looking for a performance improvement, don't do it.  Here is a little secret, they are basically the same manifold.  Shhhh.  I don't tell anyone I told you.

[johnnycharger]

Finally hooked up the vacuum advance again. It is working great. This is the fastest it's been running for over a decade. 

Now I am looking at changing out my Edelbrock performer intake for an edelbrock DP4B. I see they get great reviews and maybe my hood mat won't rub on my aircleaner. Should this give me a noticeable power increase?

If you are looking for the experience, go for it.  If you are looking for a performance improvement, don't do it.  Here is a little secret, they are basically the same manifold.  Shhhh.  I don't tell anyone I told you.

Really? That is disappointing.  I have been reading about them on the forum quite a bit and I thought it would perform better. I am never looking for more work just for the fun of it . I might need to remove my intake manifold for another issue and I figured it would be the best time to upgrade and it looks like the DP4B would be the best to get for my 383...

[c00nhunterjoe]

The performer rpm is about the best street intake for the car in my opinion. Dual plane that can act like a single plane. On a mild build i wouldnt run anything else.

[johnnycharger]

The performer rpm is about the best street intake for the car in my opinion. Dual plane that can act like a single plane. On a mild build i wouldnt run anything else.

Mine is a performer 383 not rpm. Is there much difference?

[Dino]

The performer rpm is about the best street intake for the car in my opinion. Dual plane that can act like a single plane. On a mild build i wouldnt run anything else.

Mine is a performer 383 not rpm. Is there much difference?

Day and night

[johnnycharger]

I have heard in the past that the performer 383 is a turd. Is that correct?

[Dino]

It's basically the aluminum version of the stock intake so some people would call it a turd.  I have the same on my 440 and I took it off.  I have the stock 71 intake which is supposedly the best flowing stock intake mopar made so it's going to be used in its place.  This is just because I wanted the stock manifold, performance wise I'll never know the difference.  If you're not going to drive the car hard then leave the performer in place, but if you want some more oomph then you should look into the bigger intakes such as the rpm.  Hood clearance will go out the window though, you'll need a drop base air cleaner.

[johnnycharger]

Ok. My performer 383 was installed when i bought the car back in 1998. I don't take the car to the track but I do stomp on it every time I take it out. I may need to remove my intake to do another repair (occasional knocking that I believe may be a lifter). I have the opportunity to grab a DP4B locally for $150 and I am trying to determine if it is a good upgrade to switch to or if I should just keep what I have.

[johnnycharger]

Oh.... and I already have a problem with the aircleaner rubbing on the hood mat.

[Dino]

The DP is a good intake which I would probably buy if I had a 383 and no intake.  But seeing you have the performer you may want to save your money.  Except for the look you'd never notice any difference on the street.

How much is it rubbing the hood mat?  Do you have a tall carb spacer installed?  Which air cleaner do you have?

[johnnycharger]

The carb spacer is not too tall.  I don't know what kind of air cleaner it is. The rubbing drives me nuts...

[johnnycharger]

You can see where the top has left a ring and the nut has made a mess.

[johnnycharger]

I don't think my air filter could be much thinner.

[Dino]

The nut is pretty big but that's crazy how the cleaner housing rubs like that.  Your carb and cleaner are not tall at the least.  I have heard people complain about the air cleaner hitting the mat so there may not be any other solution than removing the mat or replacing it with a molded mat which may or may not improve the situation.  I'm not familiar with Holleys but hopefully you can use a drop base fo that cleaner and solve the rubbing issue.

[johnnycharger]

Yea it is frustrating.  The base now a little drop to it but I don't think it can go much lower without interference. I read on one of the posts that the DP4B may be shorter...

[Dino]

I doubt it will be any significant amount.  The performer is pretty low to begin with but it doesn't hurt to compare them!