Optimally your fuel burns so quick that the spark happens at TDC, so it only pushes down on the piston rather than exploding while the piston is coming up. That never happens though, so you have to have the spark happen in advance, IE, degress of advance of TDC so when the explosion is in full force, it really pushes the piston down.

Higher octane means a slower flame front and the slower the flame travels, the more advance you need.

If you have a really high octane fuel, then 50 deg total is not out of the question, or even excessive for that matter.

BTW - the inverse is true with nitrous oxide. The extra O2 makes the flame burn faster, so you need less advance, aka a retard from the intended position, typically 1-2 degrees for every 50HP.

C'mon Speedy - help 2Sav out. Build him an Olds so he can get back on the water. 

OK, Already done. Ready to go 455 olds sitting here in the garage for you. :-)

To clear the record they are 750 vacuume secondaries. holley 4150's matched.

Which means you basically have a mechanical 750 until you get to 4K, then additional CFM starts flowing. Nothing wrong with that...

The edelbrocks strengths are also its weakness.

The single acc pump circuit is not strong (uses an air door for the secondaries to slow the air instead of adding fuel). This leads to better mileage and drivability on most vehicles. However on cams and heads that NEED better tip in, they fall short with no real way to improve it much past the "as shipped" state.

Holleys on the other hand, can tune this circuit dramtically, independently on both primaries and secondaries, and is the real reason why Holleys (and clones) continue to dominate.



 

Let me see what I can add - OK, what is a big roller cam? 13.1 isn't shit if you have duration and proper quench. It's diesel territory with a stock cam and flat tops.   

The real question is - what is your DYNAMIC compression ratio?

Alcohol - ratio is 6:1 instead of 12:1, so 2x the fuel. It keeps things nice and cool, great for those with a too small radiator and can't get enough cool air flowing. Somehow, not an issue with a boat. Great if your dynamic compression ratio is over 11.5:1. Downsides are, you will have to flush and WD40 EVERYTHING after you run it. I mean pull the plugs, drain the carbs, etc. Seriously.


methanol-M1(There are 3 different types now and $ increase as the type you wish to use) is 3.00 gallon, ethanol is 4.00 per gallon.  Ethanol -100% doesn't consume as(used as much smaller jetting) as where methonal requires larger jetting.  Both are very good precursers to detonation prevention and usually good to 16:1, much cooler running, but somewhat corrosive

Draw back is, the contamination they do the oil system and fuel system lines is a continous maint.(read oil changes every weekend) , and you should install shut off valves on the methonal side of the fuel and always drain the lines...this prevents the seals from breaking down in your fuel pump. EGT's will be approx 200* less and great throttle response. 

methanol will give you more torque. You have to watch the moisture when running methanol though, you can milk your oil and wash down your cylinders unless you get the proper tune.

E85 is not nearly as corrosive, the 85% mix with gas helps with that. It acts like high octane gas for the most part.

116 will go flat after a while.

Add a little nitromethane to the mix of gas, you'll be ok.

In reality, as soon as you hit the octane requirement needed, adding octane will not bump your performance, it will actually hurt it by slowing down the flame front. This is why your 78 B210 doesn't run any better on premium.

Harbor freight has a squeeze bulb siphon tube setup I bought a few days ago for less than 5 bucks. Worked really well for me when I was debugging my tanks.

Thank god for you they don't have MTBE in the gas anymore, severe neurotoxin that is water soluble.

Don't do that again. Spend the time to do it right and live longer.

Here i found it http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93290

Is the water legally required to help with the decibel levels or safety issues (heat) or both? I only ask becaused it doesn't seem to do either very well.

Heat I would assume. My Duster's headers after a 1/4 mile run are hot enough to melt (and catch fire) anything that touches them. I couldn't imagine headers after 6-7 (or more) MILES at 90-100% load. The water prob keeps them cool enough to still burn you, but not hot enough to start a fire. I have an Infrared temperature gauge, one day we should try it out and see what the temp difference is.

im gunna run muffs, no h2o. we'll see how far i get this summer.

Brad why don't you have a big dump and just a bleed (really a mist) to the headers through a valve, that way you can turn the water on if you need to if you need to get out of a ticket. 

Only if you are running a loose impellor. If you are running an A2 or something, you'll probably slow it down. Increased flow helps at the upper RPM, hurts at the lower RPM. So, depending on what you are running for the ret of the combo, it might be better to use the good intake with the small port heads.

Also, if you are worried about keeping it alive - don't run it lean, keep the timing conservative, and it will last a long time.

99% of every vehicle on the road today came with cast pistons, even the new hemi's (6.1's excluded), and those can take quite a bit of abuse and make a ton of HP.

And if your boat "only" does 50 MPH - so what. Are you going there to race or to have a good time? For me, I'm pretty sure my kids can't ski behind me at 50 MPH - or 40 - or 25 for that matter.

Growing up, our boat could only do 45 MPH, and that was way faster than any of us could handle skiing behind it.

IT'S RUNNING! All I have to do is drill two holes to mount the MSD 6AL box (which is bigger than a 6A, I always thought they used the same one), put my rear seat back in, grab various boat stuff and go get it wet.

I'd love to do it before this weekend - anyone else want to go to elsinore during the week? I'm flexible.

I wish I could try out my single plane with my 850 DP, but unfortunately, due to my bad distributor and a bad floatbowl, the carb cought on fire during a backfire. It was bad enough to where I couldn't get it out and had to hit it with a fire extingusher before it spread to the hull. 


Oh well, no damage to the boat, and I know the TR will work better anyway. 
 
 

Well I spent ALL day, and we are talking from 2AM - 8PM here, trying to finish up my boat. I either have a bad disti or a bad MSD, damn thing won't stay running. I noticed my CAT balancer isn't straight either, it has a wobble. Damn Chineese parts....I'll see if I can get one at the Mopar Spring Fling tomorrow.

The correct answer was - my distributor was bad. It is now holding the bottom of the trash can down. I have a new coil and an MSD 6AL on there now. I put on a crappy factory points unit, however, maybe I should leave it in there. I can always fire the coil direct if the MSD dies. Plus it makes the boat run, I should give it some props./

New balancer seems to be straight - minor wiring and cleanup and I'm ready to hit the water.
The exhaust is really quiet too, but sounds good. I'll have to pull the mufflers out to see what diiference it makes.