Performance Tuning

Now, what do we get?

Looks like 164 at the rear wheel. It's a great place to start, you bet.

Hey, welcome to the shop. As our name implies, this show is about horsepower and today we're gonna show you how to add a little bit more to your street machine. Basically using what you've already got under the hood.

We're using the 69 Chevelle as our test mule. It's probably pretty similar to what a lot of you guys are driving. It's got a small block 307 in it. It's already been treated to an Edelbrock intake with a quadrajet carburetor. Plus it's got a set of headers and a pair of flow masters and that old point type ignition.

Now, I tell you what this thing runs pretty decent, but I think there's another 10 or 12 horsepower left in it with a performance tune up and some well selected parts.

Yeah, we're gonna focus on getting the ignition and fuel delivery right. But first we have to do a compression check to make sure we have a solid motor

and we'll do it with this gauge. We picked up at the local parts store.

Now, this is a test that'll tell us if we have a bad ring, a burnt valve or even a flat cam.

After removing all the spark plugs and disconnecting your coil and throttle linkage wire, the throttle arm wide open

screw, the compression tester into the spark plug hole

and crank the engine until a gauge needle reaches its peak,

then record the reading for each cylinder.

Now, if your engine is in good condition, these readings shouldn't vary more than 10% from cylinder to cylinder.

Now, don't worry about the actual pressure reading on this thing. Things like cam timing and static compression ratio can affect that. But if you got a weak cylinder, find out why and fix it before you move on. Well, our numbers look good. So we're ready for the next check

actually.

Yeah, and that would be the ignition. Now, if you recall this thing still has the old point type distributor in it, which means the shaft is probably loose in the housing

and the points are out of adjustment from where

plus these plug wires look like they've been here a while. So our first order of business is to check them for resistance. Make sure they're capable of delivering a full spark.

Use an 0

m to measure the resistance in each wire, then write that number down. Now, suppression wires might be great for keeping the static out of the radio, but

let's face it. They got a lot of resistance in them and we got a couple of bad ones. So we're gonna go ahead and replace them later on.

We're also gonna upgrade our distributor with an HE I,

the one that we chose is this blueprint performance distributor from Excel.

It uses an all new housing that's gonna eliminate all the shaft play and wobble. Plus it's got a performance module inside

and this adjustable vacuum advanced to really help you dial in that part throttle timing.

Our plugs and wires also come from Excel. In fact,

these are extreme 9000 plug wires that have a spiral wound core to reduce RF interference with minimum resistance. Now, I like the reflective coating on these boots to protect them from header heat.

So while we got the plugs out for that compression check, we're gonna swap them out for these ex lu grooves. By the way, the recommended gap is 35,000 for a standard ignition. But since that he I has a lot more energy output, we're gonna open these up to 45,000 for more spark exposure.

One of the nice things about a he I is a simple one wire hook up,

but you really need to make sure to give it a full 12 volts. Now, I usually like to pull my power wire right out of the fuse box at a switch 12 volt source.

You definitely don't want to use this resistance wire that was originally hooked to your coil. You're definitely not going to get a full 12 out of it.

After installing new spark plugs, use looms to route the new wires.

They'll keep them organized and help prevent cross fring,

cut the wires to length,

crimp the terminals

and install new boots

with the engine running,

set the timing at the factory four degree advance.

All right. Let's see what we've got.

Ok. Remember our baseline before replacing the distributor plugs and wires was 100 64 horsepower.

See if we picked up anything

154 we actually lost horsepower that time. But I guess that verifies what we told you earlier.

Just voting on performance parts out of the box won't guarantee more power. That's right. But before we tear into the distributor, let's see what happens when we bump the timing to about 12 degrees.

That's more like it. 100 and 71 horsepower.

Just keep bumping the time until your power falls off. Then go back to the last setting and lock down your distributor.

Our final ignition tweak today involves the ignition curve.

The distributor comes with three sets of springs and this chart that shows the beginning and ending RPM. S for each.

We'll start with the gold springs which offer the quickest rate of advance

first, remove the cap and rotor,

then the original springs

and replace them with the gold set.

If the rate is too quick, you'll hear detonation

and you'll need to replace one spring with the next stiffer one which is silver to slow down the rate of advance.

Hey, not bad.

Now, tuning your advanced curve is a lot like tuning your timing, make small changes till you get maximum power without detonation. Now, we're gonna take a look at the car duration next.

But first you take a look at this, we'll be right back.

No,

dyno

at home to test your performance later. We'll show you a cool tool. You can hold in your hand to test horsepower and more.

Plus a hard hitting tip on how to reshape precious classic car metal. Stay with us.

Hi. Welcome back to the shop and our performance tune up.

Hey, before we go on, I wanna mention that we are working on a small block Chevy today, but the same techniques apply to a Ford or even a Mopar.

And so far we've tweaked the mission and picked up an extra seven horses. We tried some recurring attempts on this thing but really couldn't improve on that 171 horsepower mark. So now let's turn our attention to fuel delivery and uh my fuel partner,

bish, well, at least I know the difference between a brake shoe and a horseshoe.

Hey, if you recall, we're using a quadrajet on that small block and you know, it's not a bad carburetor. It's just that there aren't any performance parts widely available for it. So we're gonna swap it out for this 600 CFM vacuum Secondary Holly.

Now, even though this is their basic

performance carb, it still offers the same tuning options and parts availability as the rest of their line. Now, we're gonna bolt this thing on right out of the box and then we're gonna fine tune it for even more power. The Q jet and the Holly use different lange patterns to bolt them up. So you're gonna have to install new studs in the intake,

install a new gasket before dropping on the new carb,

hook up all the vacuum lines,

the fuel line

then reconnect the throttle linkage and check for a full throttle opening

169 horsepower

man. We lost a couple of them. What do you make of that?

Well, you know, Holly jets, these things pretty fat right out of the box and that could have cost us a couple. Well, in that case, let's pull our car off and jet it down and start tweaking on it.

One of the things Holly did to keep their 1850 affordable was to use a metering plate rather than a metering block on the secondary side. Now, what that does though is it prevents you from being able to jet those secondaries.

So we're gonna remedy that with one of their secondary metering block kits

and while we got everything torn apart, we're also gonna add some center hung bowls

that's gonna give us more fuel capacity and Hey, also gonna give us a lot racier look

start by removing the bowls at both ends along with the metering block

and set everything aside.

Remove the metering plate on the secondary side,

remove the gaskets and clean the surfaces if needed.

Transfer the accelerator pump assembly from the primary bowl to the replacement bowl.

Install new floats,

then transfer both needle and seed assemblies.

Hey, good job there. I just finished putting new horseshoes on my mustang and I thought I'd lend you a hand here. Well, I hope you put new calipers on it. The same

caliber before we put everything back together, we need to jet this new metering block. Now, the 1850 uses a number nine metering plate which is about equivalent to a 67 jet

and that's what we're gonna install in our metering block for a baseline.

The primary comes with a pair of 66 jets

and as we mentioned,

halls tend to be a little fat right out of the box.

So we'll take them down a couple of steps to a 64 here.

See what happens.

Now, we're gonna install new bowl gaskets,

metering block, gaskets,

the Bulls themselves.

Then we can attach the whole assembly

to the car body.

Finally add a new dual in the fuel line

before reinstalling the car.

This is what our 1850 looked like when we started today and well, just check it out now.

Big improvement. Huh? Now, let's see if our changes are gonna make it perform any better.

Yeah. Well, anytime you bolt on a new car, but it's also a good idea to install a new filter. Well, like these for Mr

gasket, this was pretty cool. You can actually see the fuel flowing through it.

This one here

has a replaceable filter element.

Ok. It looks like we're heading in the right direction. We're back up to 100 and 71 horsepower.

So now the plan will be to continue taking jetting out until the numbers start to fall off and then we'll go back to the jets that gave us the most power. Meanwhile, I wanna show you something here. We felt a little stumble on that run that shows up here on the graph. Now, that could be caused by the opening rate of the secondaries

while we've got the carb here on the bench to rejet it. We're also gonna go ahead and remove the secondary diaphragm assembly so we can swap out that spring inside.

After removing the choke mechanism,

remove the three screws that hold the diaphragm to the main car body,

then remove the E clip

that holds on the plunger rod,

the four screws holding the diaphragm cover are the next to go.

Now, you can remove the cover

along with the spring.

We're using this kit that we got from Mr Gasket that includes six color coded springs with different opening rates.

Our stumble occurred above 2000 RPM, which probably means that our secondaries are opening too quickly and we need to install a stiffer spring.

Now, ours came from the factory with this silver spring. The next step up is this brown one.

While Chuck's getting that car ready to bolt back on. We'll take a short break now, but we're back to wind up our performance tune up right after this.

Hi. Welcome back to our performance tune up here in the horsepower shop. Well, remember that little dip we had on our graph. We've taken care of that nice smooth curve here now

and even picked up a little horse power. Plus we're not even through jetting.

Hey, speaking of horsepower tuning, that secondary opening rate isn't gonna improve those numbers, but it will improve your drive

and maybe even your time slips at the track. Now, here's another dr building tip for you. If your engine stumbles right off idle. Well, you need to check your accelerator pump circuit.

Now, Holly makes these accelerator pump cams and squirters. That'll help take care of those problems. Well, we gotta take care of one more bit of performance business by installing this axel cool blue air filter. Now, this thing not only looks cool, it filters out particles as small as 2.8 microns

and while it may or may not add horsepower, it'll keep the inside of your

engine clean and it's reusable up to a million miles. Hey,

that is cool. And so is this little gadget? I wanna show you. Now it's a safe bet that none of you have

a dyno Jet like ours out in your garage. So this G tech pro competition performance meter will give you all the same information and more for about 250 bucks. Now, let me show you how it works.

A suction cup attaches the mounting bracket to the windshield

and to power the unit up, you just plug this cord into your lighter.

Once you're in the drag race mode, hit the ok button,

you'll be able to get horsepower and torque figures and the red light means you're ready to make a pass.

The G tech also records 60 ft 3 30 ft

eighth mile 1000 ft and 0 to 60 times.

This thing will even display real time graphs and check this out. The serial port, lets you download the information so you can store it permanently on your computer.

That's a pretty cool little tool there. Maybe next time we should wear it out instead of the dyno chair. Good idea. Check it out.

Now, we really did wear out the old Maroon Malibu there day, but, you know, we found another 10 horsepower, plus we've got a lot crisper throttle response and I bet we really feel it in the midrange next time we kick that passenger in. That's right. But right now we gotta kick it to a little break. Don't go anywhere more horse power ahead.

How much torque you got there?

Yeah.

Right

next up a restoration tip from an expert on how to un mangle your street rides. Vendor. Don't go anywhere.

Want the latest on horsepower. Check out our website at Horsepower tv.com

Classic real steel street rods, man. They're the coolest thing on wheels, but it's no secret the road to creating a fine finish rod is filled with detours and dents

like this awful crease in the fender of a 39 Ford.

Now to find a replacement fender for this thing, if you could find it

could cost you a small fortune. But fortunately, my buddy, Matt Harris here is gonna take us down a different road.

That's right. You know, today we're gonna talk about an older style technique where we're actually gonna metal finish that. In which case, we're gonna take it all the way back to its original contour without the use of any kind

of fillers whatsoever. I hate to ask a purist like you, but why not use filler? Well, when this project is all said and done, it's gonna be finished to the utmost quality and to get that quality, we gotta use minimum amounts of filler and when it's completed, it's likely to be more valuable than even a brand new car of today. Ok. Let's see what

kind of tools we got.

We're gonna start off with a few of our assorted dollies to help support the metal, then we'll move into our hammers to actually help bump the metal back up into shape.

We'll check our shape with our straight edge and then we'll check those fine details with our file and any of those few remaining lows we'll use our bulls I picked to raise. Ok. Well, of course, you're gonna need some other tools like vice is here to keep this thing solid to work on it.

First, I'll go inside with a steak dolly and rough out the damage

I'll use about as much force as it took to create this size crease.

Well, we were able to rough that out pretty well, but you can still see we have this crease right in here where the, the metal is work hardened to a certain degree. So we're gonna come in here with a dolly

and actually support the metal and from the backside hammer that crease back up,

the panel is actually feeling pretty straight. So what we're gonna do next is check it with our straight edge to see exactly how close our panel matches the original contour.

What we're looking for here is that little bit of gap that you see between the contour of the panel and the straight edge. That's telling us we have to raise the metal that much more to get it to the correct contour.

Later,

we'll use the body file to reveal any imperfections. The straight edge didn't show

and then we can use the bulls I pick to raise the remaining lows in the panel.

Pretty amazing. Mad. But how do you use this contraption to get those little dents out? Actually, it's fairly simple process, Joe, because all we're really dealing with is a hammer and a dolly. And since we're using such a fine point, we can come in here and accurately raise up those lows until we have that final finish that we want, you know how to use it.

This is what you get after an hour and a half's worth of craftsmanship when you started with this

and with a few more hours worth of work, we can end up with something that looks like this, which is pretty much ready for primer and paint

and some precious old metal gets safe from the scrap heap. That's exactly right.

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Take your machine's performance to the extreme with cop cam's extreme energy cam shafts.

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Of course, now that you've got the power, you need to find a way to put it to the ground and our next hot part will help you do just

that.

There's nothing worse than losing a race because of a missed shift. But B and M has the answer with a new pro gate shifter. You'll get solid shifts with either standard or reverse valve bodies. And when fitted with the optional CO2 RA M cylinder, it offers true hands free operation

on the inside. You'll find a billet, aluminum pivot point and a built in neutral safety switch. And the kit also comes

with a super race cable.

It's a super deal too with prices starting at about 300 bucks. Now, how about a clean way to cap off your engine.

Custom fiberglass air cleaners are all the rage these days. But this aluminum air cleaner from Jeff Johnson's billet fabrication

is a breath of fresh air and clean air too. I might add,

it's the perfect finishing touch to any well detailed engine.

Now, they're fab from sheet aluminum. That's heli arc to a billet base. They'll engineer one for just about any application.

And as you might suspect prices will vary according to the design.

Well, that's it for hot parts. If you'd like to learn more about the stuff you've seen on the show today, check us out at Horsepower tv.com.

We'll see you next week.