Thread: .060" spark plug gap?
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10-18-2009 04:26 AM
Offtopic.
Also Deck heights and head deck heights are nothing even close to blueprint standards as there is material left to machine while new.
Itīs not a wonder sometimes brand new GM long blocks are off by a a lot in compression.
At 8.9 compression you can run your engine with almost anything, no need to worry there.
Our octane ratings in Europe are higher because we use RON ( Research octane number) on the pump which applies more on idle and low detonation while MON ( Motor octane No) is more applied on High temp/Rpm and on load. The average of these two numbers is AON ( Average ) or PON ( Pump octane # in U.S.).
So actually our fuels like 95 RON is close to your Regular and our 99/98īs are like Super(?) for you.
I guy that writes on another site told that his best numbers with a Vortech X Centrifugal blown 548 was 1025hp with regular 95 RON on a boat motor any higher octane made it worse so I think youīre more than safe...His base comp is 8.33:1
And hereīs a pump gas 950hp blown Marine one plus some..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtaYdzoCzl8Offshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-18-2009 04:32 AM
Yes of course it is as the velocity at idle is what it is...canīt help that. Engine would be a hell of a engine in a twin engine or a lighter boat...
The plugs pulled from a high rpm run looked just fine before Clearwater while testing, just the way a boat motor should be to be on the safe side IMO at least.
Maybe it would work better with a Tunnel ram and two 600cfmīs
So the only remedy for a racecourse like with a long idle time would be open the gaps as we speak.Last edited by MikeyFIN; 10-18-2009 at 04:38 AM.
Offshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-18-2009 09:41 AMHigh compression race fuel engines DON'T like to idle !!!!!!
If i would of known that the idle time in Clearwater was 25 min. i would of ran #7 plugs instead of #9,,,but u lose power that way.
It cleared up as soon as we got on plane.
Also in Sarasota,,,just for the note George,,i had an other issue and only ran on 7 cylinders because of a small hole in the intake runner so oil was pumping on to the valve and fouled up #3 plug so it could not clean out.
Thats why i did not finish Lauderdale & Sarasota,,,it tock me that long to find the problem.
Mika ,,a Tunnelram ,,,u lose exselleration,,thats what i need most.
But this thread is not about ME or my engine. LOL
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10-18-2009 09:59 AMOffshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-18-2009 10:43 AM
No --- the opposite..the longer the runners are the more torque you have down low..but they also have to keep up the velocity to work which tunnels seldom doesnīt as the runners are too big.
Think (Smokey) Crossram for example..works like Gangbusters or Individual runners.
Scotty Iīm a Roadracer/oval Tracker at heart... not a Drag racer... and itīs allbout torque there.
also a Big plenum gives a lot of air for the initial throttle opening so the engine doesnīt need to suck thru a straw.
http://www.sporttruck.com/products/0.../photo_27.htmlOffshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-19-2009 05:39 PMhave you tried opening up the secondary butterflies or changing the air bleeds? With some work I bet you can get it to idle, probably just take some time to do it right.
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10-19-2009 11:14 PMI believe Nickerson drills extra air bleed holes in the throttle body so you can richen the carb up top without making it sooty at idle. That is, among other upgrades they offer.
Here is the MSD recommendations I mentioned;32' Fever (Off to Syracuse) and 36"Gladiator; FORD powered
Cause somebody has to!
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10-20-2009 03:23 AM
Nickerson ainīt the only one... I can drill too
Thatīs an old trick bytheway which you necessarily doesnīt need to do with a 4500 Holley.
And Geronimo youīre right. It takes time to get a carb to work good thru the whole powerband a lot more than just doing WOT and High RPM tuning.Offshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-20-2009 03:35 PMCarbs require a special talent. If you have it great! I don't and I sure like bolting on a Carb that has been tuned by someone who does so all I do is set is idle speed and and get boating.
Nickerson has done me a a great service solving many of the Dominator hassles I just lived with for years.
.32' Fever (Off to Syracuse) and 36"Gladiator; FORD powered
Cause somebody has to!
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10-20-2009 03:44 PMIf u buy a Holley new in the box,,they are usually tuned very well, for saftey reasons a little on the rich side.
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10-20-2009 04:35 PM
My 1150 was close enough to run, but thats it. It was real fat in the mid range and lean up top.
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10-20-2009 05:07 PMWorked on a 42' Fountain, triple engine, 600 hp with big solid roller cams and 850 Nickersons (basically an HP Holley with air horns cut off and worked)...
Couldn't get the darn thing to idle worth a damn...shipped it back to him and they came back perfect. He flow benches the carbs. I remember him telling me he works the metering blocks a bit and said that by all means do not attempt to re-set the mixture screws on his carb. Well, that's what got me into that mess to begin with... We put big cams in and I was setting them up and messed with the settings which sent the carb off the deep end.... Even Nickerson told me his stuff has a tendency to do that.
As far as Holleys out of the box, it's been my experience that a properly sized holley should be pretty close, it'll pull as much fuel as it needs and 1-2 jet sizes either way to perfect it.
If running too big a carb it'll run lean up top out of the box, too small usually runs fat out of the box...
This has been my experience, yours may vary!
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10-20-2009 05:37 PMOffshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-20-2009 05:39 PM
The Power Valves are all up the place where there ainīt no sun...
I donīt trust an out of the box Holley.
Yes they are somewhat rich but when you know which carb is the one for youīre apllication itīs quite ok.
All the double pumpers though are too general to suit any engine...
I once put Qjet on top of a boat engine ...ran out of jets and drilled the jets to the size ( went a tad rich) but on the dyno the dyno operator fiddled 2 hours with jets and timing and couldnīt better more than 3 hp on the top the midrange being equal...Offshore Racing wasnīt designed to be a spectator sport, it's for people or companies with's lots of money to push the envelope of endurance technology and hopefully put a trophy on a mantle. It's man vs the elements, not like boats with like engines running in circles.
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10-21-2009 03:55 PM
The air bleeds they use in Dominators now are too large. If you jet to be clean in the midrange, they will be lean at top end. I think it may be to make them run well on near stock 454's and 502's. They don't require the kind of fuel that a 700hp 540 or 598 requires. I went from .038 high speed air bleeds to .027 and it was a huge improvement. I went down 6 jet sizes and it was proper mixture from mid to top end. Sorry for the hijack, now back to the thread.
Big boats rule!
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10-21-2009 06:33 PM
When you say flat thru the mid on up do you mean the a/f ratio stayed at say, 13 at 3000 and 13 at 5500? My dominators are lean in the mid range and fatten up on the top due to the power valves I presume.
Oh yeah, I run .038" gaps, with tbolt ignition and blowers. No misfires I can detect.