Vacuum Leak or What?

Hey Guys ...

Just Bought this V8 Vega and am tryin to get it to run better.

Its motor is a 355 sbc with Edelbrock dual qual tunnel ram ..."Street Tunnel Ram", w/Edelbrock 600 cfm 1405 carbs.

Compression is 150 psi on all 8 Cyl. It has World Product Sports II heads w/64cc chambers and 2.02 in. and 1.60 ex. I don't know what camshaft is in there but at idle it definetly lopes like an aftermarket one.

I tried checking the timing and the timing light didn't show any when timing light was hooked up to #1 cyl. When I hooked up the timg light to #8 or #5 cyl the mark showed ok.

So here it is ... at idle of 900 rpm timingwas set at 6 to 8 degrees after tdc. Eng vacuum shows 11 -12.

When I try to set timing more advanced it seems like pre-ignition starts. How can I get it to run Better?

150 psi is gonna require some decent gas to operate without pinging. Do you know how long the present gas has been in the tank and what quality it was to strart with? I think I'd be draining the tank and starting with some fresh 93 octane fuel. My 390 Ford also registers 150 psi and that's what I have to run to keep it from pinging.

"So here it is ... at idle of 900 rpm timingwas set at 6 to 8 degrees after tdc."

If you can't find TDC with the light on #1 wire, how do you know where TDC is on the damper ring??

I suspect that, like many other small block Chevy dampers out there, yours has slipped. My best suggestion is to read this thread.....
http://www.clubhotrod.com/t16722.html