Quote:
Originally Posted by Boog
There is a lot of speculation here about your engine specs. You won't really know what's in it unless you tear into it and see for your self what pistons, cam lift, duration etc it really has. It sounds like a fun engine for off road adventures but maybe not so good for the street.
So far no one has asked just what shape your brake system is in. Have you rebuilt the complete system or just know it doesn't feel right? If the truck once stopped good but now doesn't I would pull the wheels and inspect the whole system. Low vacumn will diminish power brake performance. If I recall correctly the factory system needs a minimum of 9 or 10" of vacumn to operate right. There could be a small vacumn leak in the brake booster reducing it's effectiveness. If it is an original brake booster it would be suspect due to age. There is a coil spring inside the booster that can break and rub a small hole in the diaphram bleeding off vacumn. I've had that very thing happen on an 82 pkup. That truck had a stock exhaust and I could not hear the vacumn leak. You could remove the vacumn line from engine to booster and plug it and see if the vacumn signal goes up at the engine. If so it can indicate a vacumn leak in the booster.
A vacumn reserve can from the salvage yard could be a good tool to narrow the cause to either just a low engine vacumn or worn/weak vehicle brake system.
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The brake system has been completely gone through. The booster and reservoir are new along with most everything else. No leaks anywhere, everything bled properly, check valve checked. Etc.
I get onc good pedal than very hard pedal because I'm not getting any help from my the booster. It's pretty scary in town.
You are right it would be great for wide open fun. It needs a lot more power between 2000 and 3500 is my guess. I think more vacuum would help the idle and trans kick down also. I realize I need more info from what I currently have to really make the best decision. I guess I didn't realize the puzzle would be so complicated and that's why I appreciate all the feedback so far. It doesn't seem as easy as saying ...oh put this cam or this cam and change to these heads and you'll be happy with it. Or even ...I doubt you'll be happy with anything but a 383.
Assuming that I do have flat top pistons and going up from there. Is it ignorant to asuume that I can get a close idea of what a good cam would be for my stock replacement heads. And what more potential I could get with cam and heads? And what I might be able to expect in tourque from either of those combinations. The drop in 383s I was looking at advertise their specs so I could then compare to that.