Here's the scoop.
I have been having performance problems with my Chevelle for the past several months. It would fall on it's face up top. It started at 6000 rpms and then gradually decreased to just under 5000 rpms. We thought it might be fuel starvation at first but that was verified to not be a problem. We then replaced the plugs and wires, that didn't help. At this point, we really didn't mess with the car for a few months. Then this past weekend, Damon found the #7 plug wire at the distributor was arcing to the firewall. This was definately not good and probably had something to do with the end problem we found. We then replaced the GM recurved HEI distributor for an MSD Pro Billit HEI but we reused the Accel super coil. The problem seemed to go away but the car still didn't pull hard like it used to. So we verified the 12 vdc supply wasn't a problem by running a temp wire from the battery terminal to the coil input. That didn't fix itand Damon said, "It's got to be that darn coil!" We reinstalled the normal 12 volt wire and then swapped out the Accel coil for Damon's stock GM HEI coil and cover. WALLAH !!!!! Problem gone!!!! The car pulls all the way to redline but it still doesn't feel as strong as it used to so I am going to install a new MSD coil this weekend. All should be good to go then.

I am convinced that these ignition problems/issues have kept this car from performing at it's best! My best time has been 13.1 @ 105 mph. I feel 12.5 @ 110 mph is realistic if I can cut a 1.8 short time! We'll see.

DAMON, THANKS FOR BEING PERSISTENT AND FIXING THE PROBLEM.

Now let's go and play with that G-Tech !!

HeavyChevy

 

Thank you, thank you. I really am the best, aren't I?

Let's see.......... 4 hours of diagnostic time @ $50/hour. New coil @ $35. Shipping, handling, taxes, tile, paperwork fees and a kickback to my union. I think that comes to about $460. Payable in beer.

Heh heh. That damned car has been driving me nuts, too. I glad we finally nailed it. Something you may NOT want to think about for too long: That coil was probably bad out of the box when we put it on 2 years ago. It just took a while for it to go far enough downhill to draw attention to itself.

 

Well I did think about that and it is sorta good news. Knowing that the car managed to go low 13s while using that piece of crap coil definately says there is more in the car then the current 1/4 times shows! Come to think about it...we have always rubbed our chins thinking, why isn't this car running as fast as we estimated it to go?

Now we know!

 

TTT

thanks again!