4bbl carb/fuel pump

[daren44]

I'm having problems with my 360 street stock. Sputters in corners, clears up when I get back in gas, then sputters bad halfway down the straight, about 5000 rpm. Seems to get worse the longer I run it. In the shop it ran beautifully. All the way up to 6500 rpm it sounded great. Took it on the road by me house and it ran great, throttle to the floor all the way up to 6000 rpm. Got to the track and it progressively got worse. Checked timing and it was still where I set it, 35 degrees total advance. I've had several suggestions, from fuel starvation to carb misadjustment. I have a stock mechanical fuel pump and a rebuilt carter TQ carb. People have told me stock fuel pump is fine, but could it be going bad? Is the TQ a good racing carb? I have to use a Carter according to the tech guy, he won't let me use a Holley. Would I be better off with an AVS? Any suggestions on what's causing my problem?

[Rich33]

Let's see...Have you checked out your pickup in the fuel cell? Is it in the right spot? Is the fuel cell mounted correctly so that the pickup is on the right/back side of the car? What about your fuel lines? Did you use the exsisting stock lines or replace them with something larger? Have you actually replaced the fuel pump and tested the car again under race-like conditions (fuel pumps are relatively cheap)? Have you changed out filter(s)?

If you're forced to run a stock carb that came on a 360, you might consider a good Quadrajet. Believe or not, they came on some Dodge vans and trucks in mid/late 80's. I know many people may disagree with doing this, but you can get a built Q-jet for circle racing that work really well.

Just some ideas. I would personally spend a couple extra bucks and get a good street/strip mechanical fuel pump like a Holley or Carter.

[sanborn]

Rich 33 is correct, it sounds like you are sucking the carb bowls dry. The question is why? The stock fuel pumps aren't very good for continuous racing. Or you could have a restriction in the line.

[340king]

It looks like you need some Sperience. I had the same problem back a few years ago when I raced a street stock class. The engine would run great at home and for the first few laps of the race, then it would start to sputter at the track. In my case it has been two different things over the years.

The first time it was the fuel system. I say this because you have to look at it that way. Every component relies on another. Any failure in any component renders the system useless or at least useless for racing. I ran a Carter street/strip pump without a regulator. It had great fuel pressure in the pits and at home. I always had a little trouble with the car running great at the start, and then falling off during the race. Turns out the 3/8" fuel line I was using was too small (holley 4412 carb). I discovered this when I spun one night and started from a dead stop at the end of the straightaway. I started out and reached full rpm from a dead stop. Then two laps later, I couldn't reach the same rpm when running at full steam. Sperience.

The second time I was running an engine out of a co-workers backyard. He inherited it when he moved in. I just slapped some used heads on it and went racing. The engine would run like a striped assed ape until it reached about 200° or so. Then it would start to miss on the top end. As the temp went up it got progressively worse. Most nights I could start at the front of the feature, I started mid season and was a low point car that year so I started at the front. I would lead the feature for about 6-8 laps and usually pull out to a pretty good lead, until the engine heat went up. Most nights I would finish the feature at about 260+°. Most of the power would go away about 240°. Now for the reason. Poor valve spring pressure. It was caused by very used springs that were tortured when the owner decided to restrict the oil to the heads(valve spring cooling). This caused massive valve float and sounded sort of like I was shooting a machine gun as I went down the straight. More Sperien