I'm moving from upstate NY (20ft above mean sea level) to western TX (3,700ft above mean sea level), and I have a few questions for you guys.

1) What will I need to set my base timing to when I get there?
2) How bad is this gonna mess up my air/fuel ratio and gas mileage if I don't do anything at all to the timing?
3) Is there an adjustment or rod swap to make the difference less noticeable?
4) Will it just affect my WOT or all types of driving?
5) Will a chip upgrade (that I am already plan to do within the next 60 days, but haven't bought yet) help solve the issue with more aggressive timing?

That is it for now. I appreciate all advice or information from your experiences. I know these cars were bought and sold all over the country, so I am hoping that in GM's infinite wisdom there will not be much of a performance loss, but I have a feeling some of you are going to tell me different. Thanks!!!

 

Assuming that you're still computer controlled, the ECM should have that covered if I'm not mistaken.
Checked out the cardomain page, good job of bringing it back to life, nice Camaro.

 

Yep, I still have my factory Q-Jet and its wonderful maze of wires and sensors ... and the sensors are getting replaced one by one right now ... I am pretty sure they are all shot, even though the computer will not throw a bad code for them.

Thanks for the compliment.

 

Assuming everything is in good working order, you should be OK. Your system has a barometer sensor, and will adjust primary fueling and timing as necessary.

BTW - When replacing everything, do not make the rookie mistake of connecting the atmospheric port on the bottom of the baro sensor to a vacuum line. That would be bad

 

Right now you guys are making my day!!! Keep up the good work (woo hoo!)

It is funny you should say that ... okay, here is the deal. My baro sensor has a harness plugged into it (3 wires I think), and then there is a hole under it. I looked near the sensor and there is a funny looking "coax" looking cable or hose that appears to have broken from the bottom of the sensor. I plan to just visit the local GM shop and replace that pigtail or whatever and the baro sensor (not from GM though). My guess is the last guy was going to replace it and instead he broke it. Or am I wrong and that wire isn't supposed to be connected?

Also, where does it run to? I tried to trace it once (a long time ago), but after about 8 inches it disappears in a mess of wire looms.
Thanks!

 

Do you have a hood light, or did you at one time? The connector for the hood light often gets brittle and breaks off, dropping down onto the engine right next to the baro sensor. Very common.

The baro sensor should have a 3 pin blue connector going to it. That port under the sensor is the atmospheric port I referred to. If that is plugged with debris (also common), or connected to a vacuum source the sensor will not operate properly.

 

Thanks for the good news about the baro doing what I was hoping ... so three wire plug is all I need, great . I can leave my timing light in my toolbox when the movers come. I feared I would be re-timing my car once I reached higher elevations. Long live the Q-Jet ... for now.

Actually, yes I do have a hood light and it doesn't have any wires connected to it. I haven't tried connecting the wire near the baro sensor to it before.

There is another wire that is in the vicinity of the light is about 6 inches long and not connected to anything (zipped tied to hood support) ... one end is a closed loop connector that appears to be a ground, and the other end is just cut off. I wasn't sure if it went to the light or was a hood to chasis ground.

What the heck is the capacitor looking thing mounted on my firewall? It's wires go into a loom, and will be hard as heck to trace ... I figure it is a radio frequency canceling device that probably is connected to the distributor, but I cannot tell.

 

Gray in color? Barrel shaped? One wire in and out?

That would be your tachometer filter.

And as far as the connectors/harness goes, I'll need a picture to identify them.