Help....

[Rich]

Ok, I’m having an intermittent issue and it’s driving me crazy. Here is the basic combo: 357w, f4 block
Flat top forged pistons
TW 170cc heads
Camshaft Innovations HR cam, 600/590 233/245
Vic Jr intake
Holley 750 HP
Hooker Long tubes, 3” exhaust
Tremec 3550

Long story short…Car ran fine 2 or 3 years ago, 11.30s at 120 mph. Since then, car has been completely disassembled and painted. The only thing changed on the engine, was an intake swap.

Took the car to the track a few weeks ago and made 2 passes. The car cut out and shut off in 3rd gear on both passes. Once it did this, it was extremely hard to restart. It would crank very slowly. When it would finally start to “hit”, it would pop and crack through the carb. This would last for about 5 minutes.

Then it would start and run just fine until the next time it would be under full load in 3rd gear.

Since then I have…
• Tried two different distributors (15* initial, 32* total, duraspark)
• 3 different coils (msd, Mallory, cheap autozone tfi style that seems to do the best)
• 3 different pick up coils
• 2 different ignition boxes, MSD and Mallory
• Add ground wires to everything under the sun
• Checked all the wiring, removed entire harness and visually checked, along with checking it with a DMM
• Bypassed the ignition switch for the ignition box turn on, wired it directly to the battery
• Alternator puts out a steady 14.1v under load, with everything on
• Brand new battery
• New plugs, cap, rotor

It definitely seems electrical or ignition related. Any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated.

[redfirepearlgt]

Try putting the old intake back on? Its work I know, but could at least isolate the problem down to that area since that is the only major change you made.

[Stangman]

Vacuum leak at intake ports where they mate to the head? Gasket misalignment? Port sizes on gasket to head incorrect?

I think I heard if the bottom of the intake runner is mated to the head w/ the gasket between, and the intake runner floor is lower than the head port floor, that could cause issues.. fuel puddling.. etc? I could be way off, but for some reason that sticks out in my head. Not sure if you are having the same issues but I'm just kinda spouting out ideas. If fuel settles on that gasket it could soak it in and cause a vacuum leak if the gasket is soft and pulls out or soemthing like that... if i am thinking correctly.