I hope someone out there can shine little light on a few basics to make my 8ba flathead pull a little harder.at the moment she is bone stock , rebuilt with triple holley 94's.i don't want to try to reinvent the wheel so i'm sort of hoping for help with a combination of some sort.
I'd say you're over-carbed right now for a stocker. I think a new cam is in order. Some say the Isky 400jr is the best, but I would do a lot of research on cam grinds, if I were you.
It has been years since I built a flathead but since you are starting out stock and going to add parts the first thing I would do is check and see what kind of pistons you have in the engine. If they are the old iron pistons then watch rpm's. If they have been replaced with aluminum then you are much better off. Then like Rand Man said the first thing is a cam. I would block off the center carb and run two carbs. Isky 400 Jr. is a pretty wild cam and Speedway sells them. I would check into Moon Equipment because they took over Potvin. They may still make the Potvin Elimanator cam and I ran that cam. It was a very strong cam. Take off your exhaust and put a divider in the center exhaust because it stops the exhaust from one cylinder interfearing with the other. You can also buy these at Speedway. If you put a stroker in and bore the block for more cubic inches then you can go back to the third carb. You haven't said what you know about the engine like bearings and leakdown of compression. If the internals are good then hopups are OK but if you have a wheezer then hopups will just bring about it's demize. Roy
I forgot to add a couple of things, use new springs that are made for the cam because your stock ones will be weak and they will coil bind at full lift. Also use new adjustable lifters. If you go to a stroker use a main cap support, they are cheap and since you only have 3 mains you need it. I would put one on the front main although you will have to modify the pan to fit. I just love flatheads but I don't run one now they are like the foundation of hot rods. Roy
I'd also check out the Clay Smith 284=4 cam. But they like compression and a relief job. But as a couple of the guys have stated. You might be over carb'd already, But if you give it a cam, Heads and a port and relief job, those 3- 94s will be just about right. It's just like any other motor. You can go as far as you want...
I can't figure out how to post screen shots of Pipemax, but if you can get me the following info, I can give you some info volumetric efficiency % (this would come from dyno results, which you may not have) Bore stroke connecting rod length # of cylinders rpm @ which peak horsepower is achieved compression ratio # of intake valves intake valve head diameter intake valve stem diameter cam intake valve lift duration @ .050" cam centerline lobe center angle # of exhaust valves head diameter stem diameter lift duration @.050" to see what all this will look like, check out www.maxracesoftware.com and, if someone could show me how to post screen shots of this, I'd sure appreciate it.
An 8BA with anything other than stock carburetion needs a real distributor with centrifugal advance weights to replace the pitiful all vacuum stock "loadamatic' unit.
I paste them into MS Paint. Save it as a .jpg instead of a .bmp file to get a smaller file size. BTW, a "screen shot" is AKA "print screen". Here's some info if you're so inclined: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_screen Thanks, Kurt
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