This year we put together a bigger engine and have been running into some issues not seen in prior 400 ci engine combinations.
498 ci engine with trick flow heads, 12.8:1 compression, custom Flat tappet cam 258/268 @ .050' with .649"/679" lift, trick flow track heat intake with 1050 quick fuel carb, 110 octane race fuel
Engine is ran in a rear engine dragster with powerglide and with driver is 1800lbs. First weekend out we struggled to get the car to go down the track fighting horrible tire shake, so bad it kicked the power off one pass. This past weekend we did find a tolerable tire pressure to get the car to go down the track with a best 1/8 mile time of 5.19 @ 128mph shifting at 6,300 rpm. Engine seems to be running very strong but would like to get input on the two timing/fuel questions below. It would be great to have a test day to get 6-8 passes to test variables but it seems most tracks barely give you 1-2 test passes so looking for the groups help to dial in the combination so we can get back to racing and winning!
1. Current timing is at 34 degrees and that is what our old smaller FE engine seemed to like but not sure if that is the right number for this bigger ci engine?
2. Spark plugs we are running are AR3910. The procelain on all plugs seems to be yellow. We have tried adding fuel but only seems to slow car down so assume it is on rich side but not sure what is causing the yellow color or what the cure would be?
Thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide!