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Low power with L18


Toney

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Hi everyone. It's been an extremely long process getting my 510 on the road and took it for a spin up the street. It is an L18 with 5 speed and I believe it is a L16 differential. I feels as if I am driving with the brakes on. I changed out the rear adjusters and adjusted them properly.

 

I am getting most power on the high-end. Is this the power tht I am going to have with it? Could it be the differential holding me back?

Thanks for feedback!

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I was going to check the compression right now. It is super loud too loud. E-brake is fully disengaged. I apologize I do suck at posting to forums it's hard to get all the info out. I am running a 32/36 weber brand new and top end performance headers.

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If there is any doubt, place in neutral and carefully raise each wheel and spin the tire. Do all four wheels. If you can spin them the brakes are not dragging.

 

The differential won't hold you back if it runs best in 4 or 5th gear.

 

What is the L18 out of? Look behind the dipstick, top edge of the block. The block should have L18 stamped there.... does it?

 

Look on the bottom edge of the head just behind the #1 spark plug and just above the top of the iron block. The head casting number is there. What is it. 210? A87? U67?

 

 

 

Now.

Remove the distributor cap and look. Are there two sets of points?

 

Check or have the valve lash checked. 0.010" intake and 0.012" exhaust on a hot engine.

 

When checking the timing did you remove the vacuum advance hose from the distributor? If you didn't, do so. Also your idle is too high and may be adding mechanical advance and you are getting the wrong timing. Adjust the carb down around 750-800.

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So far I have... L18 block 210 Head and I am running an electronic dist. And just for clarification I do a just the valve lash when it is fully warmed up correct? 620 tech is no longer available the davidcmurhpy website?

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Well the 210 head is meant for an L16. It will certainly work on an L18 but it ups the compression from 8.43 to 9.38. You may have detonation issues. Try high octane gas or retarding the ignition a few degrees to see if that helps.

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Ok that's great info to know thanks! So my timing was off quite a bit I adjusted that and got it close to 12 BTDC my pre-fuel filter was clogged up so I changed that and it did in fact resolve my problem. I still need to check compression and valve lash. I was also having issues with some throttle linkage that I fabricated so I fixed that as well.

I do appreciate the positive feedback and great info thanks again!

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Listen for a pinging sound when you step on it, coming from the engine. Higher octane gas may fix this as it makes the gas harder to ignite by itself from compression heat. Or you can just turn the distributor timing back (retard) a few degrees counter clockwise and test it again.

 

Another option to think about is to keep your eyes open for an A87 or a U67 head. Both have larger combustion chambers and will run much closer to stock compression and timing. A bonus is that the valves and ports are much larger than the L16 head. Your intake and header will also fit these heads and the 32/36 weber will really wake it up I think.

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Actually true, if timing adjusted properly. Our work van had to travel 60 miles a day to this job and we filled it often. I religiously tracked the gas used and the mileage. It runs on regular but I ran a few tanks of high octane or premium through it. The EFI automatically adjusts the timing and yes we went further on premium. I worked it out and it more than payed for the extra amount per liter. Proved it several times but the gas bills were extra high and I didn't want the company squawking. They would see the bill not how far we went on a tank. Plus it seemed to defy logic. I continued with the cheaper regular and less mileage.

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Great to know that! I will keep an eye out for one if I come across a good deal, however I am still far from messing with the engine I still need to register insure and finish my custom dashboard. I will post up a project thread once I get all that done.

LMAO I didn't even catch that (retard) until dr. Feltersnatch posted it! That was a good one! Thanks for the laugh

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