740TurboPerformance
04-25-2004, 11:26 PM
I've always wondered why my '87 with more miles on it was faster than my wagon, which was in better shape with lower miles. I had to replace the distributor on the '87 sedan and after it was sluggish compared to how it performed before I replaced it. I simply fixed it by loosening the distributor bolts, turning the cam mounted distributor a few millimeters counter clockwise (toward the passenger side) then tightening, the results where, it was doing 0-60 in about 7 seconds nearly just like it was before.
This got me thinking about my '88, I did the same thing, turned the distributor a few millimeters counter clockwise and boy did it make a noticable difference, it must have took at least a second off my 0-60 times, more responsive, turbo doesn't lag as much and my fuel economy slightly improved.
I am working on doing anything fairly safe (no not cranking up the boost a lot since it has a lot of miles and it piston slapping a bit), to increase performance. My buddy has been trash talkin' saying I need to prove my racing status after I let another Volvo beat me because there was a lot of traffic on the freeway and I didn't want to carry on a race in heavy traffic. Well anyway he has like a '91 Mustang LX 5.0 5 spd w/BBK cold air intake, Moroso 8.5MM Wires, it runs strong and is pretty fast. I don't necessarily feel I have to prove anything to anyone but I challanged his ass to a race and it would be nice to kill his stang.
The first thing that came to mind and I don't know how reasonable this sounds was turning the distributor a few more millimeters counter clockwise but I'm concerned I could burn something up or cause damage to my engine . . . .
I figured I'd also get a Hallman Boost Controller and set it at 10PSI for the race (I currently run 8.5PSI). I've increased my tire pressure slightly to 35PSI for a bit less roll resistance and will finally get that 3rd seat out of the back of the wagon. I've replaced the last vacuum hose, the larger one on the intake manifold (it was getting brittle and was slightly cracked), just cleaned my Oil Trap Box under the intake manifold finally, that thing had a lot of gunk in it, my Volvo feels a bit smoother and the engine doesn't slap quiet as loud, I'm hoping cleaning the oil trap box thouroughly has slightly improved oil circulation. I'm also thinking about switching to 20w50 full synthetic oil for this engine (has 230K and piston slaps/knocks sort of loud at idle sometimes). Run premium gas etc . . . . .
I am also tempted to throw a set of BOSCH Platinum spark plugs (the standard ones) in there, when I used to run them a while back, I swear it felt like my wagon had a bit more punch, you can notice it, the reason I switched was because of the dinky electrode (I'm running Champion Platinums right now, they are way better than Coppers but still don't feel quite like the BOSCH Standard Platinums. I don't know just a thought . . . .
OK, so I sized myself up the other day with a 5.0 stang some young guy was driving, it looked slightly modified, I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was a manual, I could tell he was shifting, I started out in first and power shifted from first to second, then up into drive, I pulled ahead at first, which was nice but obviously they have more power in second gear and that's when he started to pull ahead and gained nearly 2 car lengths on me but then in 3rd I started to catch up again so I don't know. I've messed around with my buddy before, he says he thinks I could beat him off the line but that he'll toast me when he gets to second gear. I just wanna whip his ass so I can start talkin' sh**t and get a great video for you guys, and hey if I do loose I promise I won't make it easy for him.
What do you guys say as far as me gaining anymore performance from adjusting the timing anymore, is this unsafe and could it cause damage, should I just leave it alone or what . . . ?
thanks, late
This got me thinking about my '88, I did the same thing, turned the distributor a few millimeters counter clockwise and boy did it make a noticable difference, it must have took at least a second off my 0-60 times, more responsive, turbo doesn't lag as much and my fuel economy slightly improved.
I am working on doing anything fairly safe (no not cranking up the boost a lot since it has a lot of miles and it piston slapping a bit), to increase performance. My buddy has been trash talkin' saying I need to prove my racing status after I let another Volvo beat me because there was a lot of traffic on the freeway and I didn't want to carry on a race in heavy traffic. Well anyway he has like a '91 Mustang LX 5.0 5 spd w/BBK cold air intake, Moroso 8.5MM Wires, it runs strong and is pretty fast. I don't necessarily feel I have to prove anything to anyone but I challanged his ass to a race and it would be nice to kill his stang.
The first thing that came to mind and I don't know how reasonable this sounds was turning the distributor a few more millimeters counter clockwise but I'm concerned I could burn something up or cause damage to my engine . . . .
I figured I'd also get a Hallman Boost Controller and set it at 10PSI for the race (I currently run 8.5PSI). I've increased my tire pressure slightly to 35PSI for a bit less roll resistance and will finally get that 3rd seat out of the back of the wagon. I've replaced the last vacuum hose, the larger one on the intake manifold (it was getting brittle and was slightly cracked), just cleaned my Oil Trap Box under the intake manifold finally, that thing had a lot of gunk in it, my Volvo feels a bit smoother and the engine doesn't slap quiet as loud, I'm hoping cleaning the oil trap box thouroughly has slightly improved oil circulation. I'm also thinking about switching to 20w50 full synthetic oil for this engine (has 230K and piston slaps/knocks sort of loud at idle sometimes). Run premium gas etc . . . . .
I am also tempted to throw a set of BOSCH Platinum spark plugs (the standard ones) in there, when I used to run them a while back, I swear it felt like my wagon had a bit more punch, you can notice it, the reason I switched was because of the dinky electrode (I'm running Champion Platinums right now, they are way better than Coppers but still don't feel quite like the BOSCH Standard Platinums. I don't know just a thought . . . .
OK, so I sized myself up the other day with a 5.0 stang some young guy was driving, it looked slightly modified, I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was a manual, I could tell he was shifting, I started out in first and power shifted from first to second, then up into drive, I pulled ahead at first, which was nice but obviously they have more power in second gear and that's when he started to pull ahead and gained nearly 2 car lengths on me but then in 3rd I started to catch up again so I don't know. I've messed around with my buddy before, he says he thinks I could beat him off the line but that he'll toast me when he gets to second gear. I just wanna whip his ass so I can start talkin' sh**t and get a great video for you guys, and hey if I do loose I promise I won't make it easy for him.
What do you guys say as far as me gaining anymore performance from adjusting the timing anymore, is this unsafe and could it cause damage, should I just leave it alone or what . . . ?
thanks, late