1972_442

i have a 72 cutlass with a 350 and i put on a edlebrock intake and holley carb not really sure what the carb flows but i think its 650. the problem is there is no power when i put it in gear and get on the gas it hesitates a little and then starts to move but still no where near how its suppose to be. in park you can get on the throttle and its fine but you put it in gear and its like its struggling. i also forgot to mention that the trans was rebuilt, and im getting a lot of blowby from the rings there is gas in the oil and bellows blue smoke when you get in the throttle. do i need to adjust the carb

Olds64

You definitely need to tinker with the settings on your carburetor.

442Harv

Did you remove the distributor, whe you did the changes? If so, sounds like maybe a tooth off?

The_Jeremiah

Sounds like you need to rebuild the engine. Also bellowing blue smoke when you get on the throttle means your rings or valve seals are bad, your burning the oil. You already stated your getting lots of blowby, how many miles you got ?

1972_442

i put in an hei and the timing is dead on. not sure of the mileage but i was holding off on a rebuild because i might stick in a 455. how do i adjust the carb though?

The_Jeremiah

Get a vaccum gauge, connect it to a vaccum port on the intake. make sure whatever you unplugged is also plugged. and since its a holley the mixture screws are in the "metering blocks" if its a 4160 model there is two, if its a 4150 there is one. Or its the other way around i cant remember. they lie inbetween the main body and the float bowls. fire it up, run it for a bit, shut if off. Turn both mixture screws in till they just barely bottom out, and then turn em both out 1.5 turns. then from there fire it up and slowly adjust each until the vaccum gauge reads as high as you can get it. If im wrong correct me, im not a holley man LOL