Steven Hall

Ok so I've had this car for the last couple months been working all the issues out. I feel like the guy that painted never wanted to put it back together or did it in a huge hurry. This is my first classic car I am learning as I go with this one. Car seems to be running fine no backfires good acceleration terrible gas milage. Running 91 octane with royal purple octane boost so far seems to run as good as running 110 gas. Anyways any info on things I should look at or might need to fix that you can see let me know it's almost summer in az and I definitely won't be wrenching when it's 120 out if I don't have too.

Passenger side left plug is front of the motor back. Original plugs no clue how long in there.

Driver side right plug is the front of the motor






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Olds64

Why do you run octane boost in the fuel? 89 or 91 octane should be high enough that you don't get any ping unless you have hi compression pistons. You could change those spark plugs or your could clean and regap them.

Lonnies Performance

Aren't those the wrong type of plug for the car? Edelbrock states to use a 14mm x 3/4" reach gasket type plug?

What is shown is a taper seat type plug with a longer reach & it appears they are seating just above the threads.

Also the mixture & heat range is hard to determine as the octane booster may be causing the brown discoloration shown.

This should be what the plug looks like.

oldcutlass

Good catch Lonnie on the spark plug type.

Steven Hall

Man I did notice taking the plugs out that they went loose then tightened up again as I was taking them out. If you think there the wrong plugs I will definitely change them. And the octane boost does help with pinging not sure what the internals are but the car is really fast I smoke brand new Camaros and mustangs and challengers all the time will little effort. Previous owner told me to only run race gas but I quickly couldn't afford to do that at 6 miles to a gallon so I tried the octane and 91 and it runs great so I just keep doing it.

Steven Hall

What plugs and or wires do you recommend and also I pulled the 160 t Stat out and put in a 180 the car runs at 185 to 190 it was running at 170 but I felt that was to low

Fun71

I see you have a HEI distributor and the vacuum advance is not connected. There may be a valid reason for not using the vacuum advance, such as very low engine vacuum, high compression that can't tolerate more ignition advance, etc. If it is possible to run vacuum advance, it may help with driveability, cooling, and even mileage.

Without knowing your engine details it's impossible to really give a recommendation, so I figured I'd just make an observation on what I saw in the picture.

Steven Hall

I was wondering about that too like o wish I knew the internals to know if I should hook that up or not

Lonnies Performance

Yes, connect the vacuum advance as it should help your mileage.I would not expect your mileage to be that bad.

I would consider the lower temp stat if you have any octane/pinging issues.

What tipped me off was what looked like a piece of aluminum by the one plug. Then when I saw a taper seat plug, but also one with the extended non-threaded area, I knew there was a problem.
The flat surface in the bottom of the plug hole is a tip-off that it takes a gasket type plug. Start with 1 range colder than stock & see how it goes.

If you want a good octane booster, look into Toluene, available at bigger paint stores. It is 116 octane & costs $8-10/gal. vs. paying $5-10 for a small bottle of booster that you mix with 5 gal of gas.
I run AV gas mixed with 93 pump gas. It is typically available for under $6/gal. Adjust your ratio to eliminate pinging.

Steven Hall

Ok so I had a 160 t stat. Put a 180 car never seems to go over 195. Should I go back to a 160? What spark plugs do you guys recommend for my set up and wires? I just killed the batterry starting my car a few times plus it's really hot out today. Is this batterry just to weak to handle mutiple starts or is my alternator only working every once in awhile? And the vacuum line should I just plug it into the 90 off the intake?

It the 90 is right under the chrome fuel line going go the back bowl

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Fun71

Where are you located? Here in Phoenix it's only 71º today. I was driving the convertible earlier and it felt great.
And yes, that is a good place to connect the vacuum advance.

Steven Hall

My top don't go down and I'm in peoria and 91st ave. It was warm for me.

RetroRanger

your battery cables are suspect, the clamps have been changed, typically those types of clamps dont make as good a connection as clamps that are part of the cable

classicmuscle442

Better way to make the battery cable connection, is to wrap the cable strands with a piece of solid strand wire and then insert wire into clamp. Stops the stranded wire in the cable from spreading out when tightening.

Steven Hall

I changed those connections and sanded all the paint off the inside and made sure I had good contact swapped out the voltage regulator and now I'm getting 14.5 v for the first time. Plugged that vacuum line in haven't really noticed any difference but went to dinner with the girlfriend and the car seems to be doing just fine now. I hope it stays this way I just need to do the plugs and wires I already did the Napa gild filter and the vr1 racing oil. So grateful this girlfriend understands the cutlass is my second girlfriend and is down to help vs complain all the time and money I put into her. Finally starting to feel comfortable that the cat isn't gonna break down all the time but I've gone through just about everything on it

Fun71

Yeah, in the direct sun it felt a bit warm. But again, it was low 70s today, and that is 40-50º lower than what it's gonna be in a few months.