Stopping the knock: Lower compression and ported heads...
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I don't recall if you did indeed limit your timing to 30-32* as was suggested...only that you changed your springs, and altered your timing rate, but I also don't recall seeing your effective timing mapped out in a document or in a thread.
It was suggested 20* initial, due to the rather large cam, and limited to 30-32*, which would mean you'd only have an effective timing range of 10-12*...did you ever actually limit it? IIRC, you were pushing 35* total timing, and regardless of where it comes in-2200 or 3500, or even 4000 rpm, those 3* may've made the difference between rattling, or not.
...I dunno man...I'm about to say hell with it, and quit commenting altogether because I'm clearly not providing anything value added.
Don't duck out yet. Things are not as bleak as some may think.
RRR has forgotten that I did follow the advice to tune the distributor. It wasn't as if I wanted to tear the engine down just for fun.
As stated in my last post, I
have slowed down the advance curve. I
have limited it as well. It made no difference. On the first test drive after the Lunati cam break-in, I had the timing set to where I had it with the 292/509 cam: 17 initial & 31 total. NO vacuum advance. The car knocked at WOT. I almost **** a brick. The cam was supposed to make things better, right? I pulled the car over and (Without a timing light handy) clocked the distributor to retard the timing a few degrees. I drove the car again and found that it still knocked at WOT. I pulled over a 2nd time and retarded the timing even more. At this point I had to crank up the idle speed because it would not stay running. This was all for testing purposes, by the way. Well, the 2nd adjustment resulted in crappy low speed performance, mediocre mid range and top end. NO knocking though. At home I put a timing light on it. 6 initial and 20 total. The car did NOT detonate on 20 degrees of total/ "all-in" timing. I obviously wouldn't be satisfied with that, nor would I drive the car around that way thinking that I was finished dialing it in. I was experimenting to see where the limits were.
Again, If I messed up along the way, I'm willing to face it. I think that I covered the bases well and ended up where I am now.
Maybe I am being too picky in what I want from the car. If all I cared about was getting in it and putting my right foot to the floor, then the car is the quickest and fastest thing I've ever driven. It is reliable. It actually gets decent mileage. It will outhandle 75% of the Mopars on the road. The brakes are nearly as good as a new car.
The car doesn't knock now and for that, I'm quite happy. I'm the type of guy that always sees room for improvement though. There is no urgency for any changes at this point, I just like the idea of having a smoother running, smoother idling engine that is a bit more responsive at freeway speeds.
Maybe many guys here get there cars 3/4 way finished and are happy with that. Maybe these guys never post here about their blunders or missteps for fear of looking
human. I'm not built that way. If my mistakes can help someone, I'm willing to share them.
