ok so update! i stopped by my friends shop and used his smoke machine to check for an intake leak. i found one on the spider/throttle body coupler right behind the idle screw. so i fixed that when i got home (brake clean does not make the engine rev) then i checked the timing. at idle it was 10 advanced and at 3000rpm it was WAY above 23 degrees. so i changed it to 23 at 3000rpm, and now idle seems to be around maybe 2 retard to 0. does that sound right? Plugs are WR7DC's. i also did the vac test on the advance diaphragm, no leak down.

 

should be interesting to see what HC and CO levels come out at now.

 

im going to go get it checked tomorrow i think. after i give it a once over again before hand. one thing i did not think of, is i have that crankcase evac set up to my oil breather/filler cap. so i will disconnect that just in case.

 

If its running ok, why change the timing since its outside the test band?

In Calif two degrees off the factory idle timing and you fail, but I don't think its checked at all in above an idle.

 

well im not sure what to set the timing at. to me it looked way advanced, but it might run better up there. i will find out tomorrow when i drive to class and see how it does. i might stick it back where it was (bolt was about half way between ends of throw on the dist)

 

UPDATE. so i found out im a moron and did not disconnect the vac lines to the distributor, SOOOO the timing was right. after another can of brake clean i did find a little intake boot leak. fixed that. then it was still lean, so i turned up the rail pressure and BAM! passed my next emissions test with flying colors! YAY! all this time i had a small intake leak and not enough fuel pressure. thats why my last dyno pull had such bad numbers...

 

You have an adjustable regulator?

 

yup, its an aeromotive, works great! (when i set the right pressure)

 

congrats! and very interesting information. thanks for sharing.

 

...and you only telling this now?

 

well i had it set at 35 PSI. from what research i did that was factory, so i had no reason to think otherwise. so upped up the pressure (my buddy has a sniffer machine) we could see the HC drop, so i kept going till it leveled out some. i still need to do more checking to see if that is a good setting.

 

Is this the FPR setup without a manifold vacuum reference, or was that a different thread?

 

i think that was a diff thread.

 

Lean missfire drives up the HC, every time. Doesn't matter if it is fuel pressure or a vacuum leak...it is still not enough fuel.

Glad you got it to work better.

Now add timing 2-3 degrees at a time, until you can make it "rattle" on a hot day. Take out the amount you added to finally make it "rattle" and you will improve the performance significantly. Just adding 5-7 degrees makes a huge difference.

 

i assume you mean advance, and at 3k rpm? are those correct Greg?