If you want the most "Bang" for the buck, then learn the nuances of your chosen car line....

With modern cars having so much computer-controlled electronic ignition and fuel management, automatic shift points etc-"Tuning" is becoming a lost art. However-if you have an old musclecar it can make a huge difference in performance. Even on a stock engine-bad tuning can cost you 40-50 hp. And every engine line is different in what they need and "like".  My dad worked for GM and Ford for years, and I did too, as well as Chrysler. If you want to read old tech articles by Dick Landy,Nunzi Romano,Smokey Yunick, Carroll Shelby, etc-you'll see that what I'm telling you came from the old masters, as well as personal experience. Here's some tips you won't see in the modern buff magazines-because their writers don't know it!! Some of these engines were out of production before the editor was born!!  # 1. Pontiacs like a lot of timing and a lot of fuel. They always have. Many years ago-Popular Hot Rodding had a project car called "Project '32". It was a '32 Ford 5 window that they'd stuffed a Ram Air IV 400 Pontiac and TH400 in out of a staffers wrecked GTO. Needless to say-it was badass-it ran low 12s on street tires and high 11s on slicks-in the mid-70's. They discovered that it ran even stronger when they replaced the Quadrajet with a 1000cfm Carter Thermo-Quad, and went richer than stock on the jetting. It ran stronger still when they kept bumping the timing, finally losing power at 42 degrees total advance!!  The now defunct High Performance Pontiac magazine had similar results. They tested a strong 455 HO that they built. It had a custom 850 cfm Quadrajet with a larger .149 needle and seat. They got the most performance at 38 degrees total-after losing power at 40. However-they were using 91 octane pump gas, and PHR was using 104 octane race gas. Still-the engine liked a lot more timing than stock. They also found that hp and torque increased at every rpm by increasing fuel pressure. The hp and torque numbers were still rising at 9 psi- (which is a lot for a carburated engine; I know modern fuel-injected engines run 40 psi or more ) when they went to 11 and blew the needle and seat off the carb!!  My Judge ran high 11s with two 750 cfm Carter AFBs on an Offenhauser Dual-Quad intake, and it had a stock mechanical fuel pump on the engine, and a Carter Electric pump in the trunk-one pushing, one pulling- and a 1/2 inch fuel line. No one who ever drove or rode in this car would say it was over-carburated!!  Remember-a 455 Pontiac needs more juice than 327 Chevy!!  So if you have a GTO or Firebird or whatever-taking the time to play with timing, jetting, and fuel pressure will easily add 30-40 hp when you finally get it right. # 2. Fords are notoriously under-carburated. The Autolite 4bbl used on 289 Mustangs and other '60's Fords-even 390s-flows about 470 cfm. Carroll Shelby bumped the hp from 271 to 306 on the 1965 289 GT350 simply by adding tri-y headers and a 715 cfm Holley on an aluminum intake. And the buff magazines said that was under-rated-they thought it was putting out closer to 350 hp!  The Autolite 4100 and 4300 are the worst carbs ever built, bar none. I've said before-in the early '70's if you had a Mustang or a T-Bird with cold-starting problems, stumbling, etc-and bitched hard enough-dealers would replace them with a 600 cfm Holley and warranty it!! Now think about this-the performance of your 429 or 460 inch T-Bird is vastly improved with a 600 cfm carb??!!  If you have an automatic transmission I would recommend the 750 cfm Edelbrock Performer as the "default" carb-they come off the line very cleanly-which is important in an automatic transmissioned car-you can't rev them up at the line to "clean them out". They won't over-carb a hot 302, and they'll feed a 390 / 428 or 429 /460 just fine. If you have a manual transmission-then dual 600 Edelbrocks give 452 hp on a 390-more than the 418 registered by the Performer RPM single-quad. Or you can use a 750 or 850 double-pumper Holley on your hot 351, 390, 428 / 429 or whatever-with a stick you can launch at whatever rpm you desire. I've seen Edelbrock and Barry Grant dual-quad and tri-power setups work great even on a 289 with the right cam, gears, etc. Think about it-a 351C or 390 Ford V8 with a 470 cfm carb is like a 250 lb NFL running back trying to run while breathing through a straw!!  Don't go overboard-but I think you get the picture. # 3. Mopars are also badly Under-carburated. The original Carter AVS 4bbl that was used on most Mopars until 1971-only flowed about 585 cfm. They had crisp throttle response-a smaller carb will do that at low-speeds and in the mid-range-but at the sacrifice of quite a bit on the top end. 585 cfm is a little small for a stock 340; for a 383, 400 or 440 it's laughable. Luckily-Edelbrock offers an 800 cfm "Thunder AVS" carb that would be just the ticket. If your car is a '71 or '72 and later with a Carter Thermo-Quad, and it's not warped or cracked ( the bakelite bodies sometimes do ) you can rebuild that-they flow 750 cfm. Summitt offers remanufactured Thermo-Quads in 750 and 850 cfm versions. Or you could use an Edelbrock Manifold and the 800 AVS,-their adjustable secondarys are perfect for an automatic- or if you have a stick-an 850 Holley-especially on a 383 or 440 with a big cam and stiff gears-will rock. Or you could go with a Six-Pack setup or dual-quads. # 4. "Rat" motors need to breathe. I've said it before-and it's true-nothing makes more power for less money than a big-block Chevy. Since engines are basically an air pump-it's true to some extent with all engines-but a Rat will really "wake up" with additonal breathing-headers, cam, and carb and intake. With the possible exception of an 8:1 engine with an automatic and 2.73:1 gears-it's almost impossible to over-cam or over carburate a Rat. Stick to the guidelines of the cam manufacturers-they'll tell you "needs 3.42:1 or stiffer gears and 2,500 rpm converter" or needs at least 750 cfm carb, etc."  Again-think of the 454 as a 275 lb NFL lineman-trying to breathe through a straw!  This is very basic stuff-but sticking to basics can get you a big edge in real-world performance!!  Mastermind