I doubt I ever get mine past 5000 and it's far from stock.

 

I do between 6000 and 6500 getting on the interstate.

 

Ahhhh.......I wrote a two paragraph response to those who shift at 5000 RPM.....but I deleted it. No sense trying. What I do know is that I cannot shift at 5000 RPM in my 77 in first and second gear without approaching the speed limits on the roads I drive.....so I just accelerate on the torque my 406 makes,.....and I get to those speed limits very quickly WITHOUT needing 5000 RPM. I don't even need 4000 RPM to do it. Its just plain facts. And it pushes me back in the seat just fine. What happens at 80 mph is irrelevant because I can't drive those speeds responsibly in Western PA....and I really have no desire to anyway. All shifting above 5000 RPM does is make alot of noise, when there are two additional gears to use.......to the same result. I don't get it.???

 

At 64 years old, I have passed my teenage years,...by 45 years .and do not need to "school" anyone in my car. Fact is, the average ricer can beat most muscle cars today. And I wouldn't waste my time trying. If I wanted to race cars, I would. I don't. I like acceleration....I like torque, and why my 69 will have a big block.....but my cars will never see 5000 RPM, and I don't need 5000 RPM to accelerate. I would say if an engine needs 5000 RPM to accelerate to speeds responsibly driven on the street....you might want a better cam. Anyways.....I don't have alot of energy for this type discussion....cause normally, it doesn't end well. There is reality....then there is barstool bravado....all designed to make people feel good, and make alot of noise. Just like spinning tires......teenage antics that I have no interest in being part of. Cost too much, and I treat my machines with respect, not abuse.

 

Well... you DO have a purpose-built 406, in a dialed car. Not all ov us can foot that. Myself, past a point, if i want to win races, i gotta do it old school... because that is still cheap.

So you're telling me you NEVER lean into it when some punk in a Honda, or Mustang gets uppity beside you? That would make you a RARE car guy. I dont know why people try to deny this. There ARE guys that literally never top 3-4000K, and just cruise around, too cool to play... but we all hate those guys. Maybe you dont get aggressively competitive on the street, and thats fair, but... some ov us do. Thats fair too. My Charger had a **** little cam in it, and with a big (read: low end torque) 440. But if i shifted it at 4500-5000, i went slower, period. Mopars, unlike Chevies, are NOT naturally revvers. They dont have the heads for it. The bottom ends are too heavy. My 70 Buick 455 Stage 1 was bone stock, save the shitty dual exhaust system. It loved to rev 6000, and it WAS faster there. Saying every engine is wasting time or 'just making noise' past 5000 is silly. My Cadillac 500 wouldn't even rev that high. The 4.6 on my stand turns on at 5500RPM. And i mean, the band spikes at 5500 (shift at 7300 and DONT MISS). Thats gonna be a street engine, in a street car, reliable, very drivable, good on gas even... and it'll be plenty fast.

Maybe i'm just a kid to you at 49, but i'm not done being a tool just yet. The fact that so many guys driving cool cars have just become resigned to the fact that new cars are faster just bothers me. Cant speak for you, but its usually the exact same guys that constantly brag about how powerful they are. Now THAT... is barstool bravado... nothing but noise. The disco stuff aside, we did not buy these cars, or start liking them in the first place, because ov image. Thats 78 TramsAm. Any early C3 should be fast. Maybe you dont have to prove it, but its not hard to have the capacity. If its a high-HP car? Come on...

I dont abuse my machines either, ever. I mean... yeah, i could wash the damn thing every now and then, but when it comes to beating on it, i'm pretty damn conservative on the mechanics. I'm poor, i have to be. I still win races though.

As for 'doesn't end well'... We can be civil. We're all on the same side.

 

No....I do not engage with punks in cars who somehow equate me owning a Corvette means I want to risk my life, and the lives around me on the highways, with some dick-swinging contest that my car is faster than his. Truth is, all it takes to have a fast car is money.....and I am not in competition with anyone about money, or about a fast car. I also have a great sense of responsibility, given to me at an early age by my father, that I have no right to endanger people around me on the highways by driving irresponsibly. Just look at all the You Tube videos of fools crashing nice cars with their childhood antics, and "challenging" someone on a highway. I know it has always been a thing, and probably always will be, despite the deaths and destruction,......but I am not participating. I also don't get ANY satisfaction from challenging some pimple faced, sidways ball cap wearing, nose ring tattooed punk who thinks his Honda Civic is cool. Or for that matter, another Corvette owner. I do not see ANY fun in that at all. I don't.

My joy and passion for my Corvette(s) is all about respect for the car, admiration for the styling beauty Chevy has put into the car, and the sound and history of the American made V8 and the Chevy Corvette.....iconic. I know to some of you this may sound like some sort of contradition. Owning a powerful engine, and then placing limits I place on using that power, but I do what I want, for my reasons, and no explanation required. It makes perfect sense to me, and is what I want to do. I am not "dreaming" or pretending to be some "race boy". The "real" racecars, that actually race on tracks, are cool.....and the sound and power they produce is cool to me. I like hearing it. But that does not mean I have to drive my car on the streets like they do on the track. I just don't desire to do so. In fact, if I was given the opportunity to drive my Corvette on a track......I would take it....but I suspect I would be very careful, I would not hammer on the car, and I would recognize my limitations. Maybe its the profressional pilot in me that recognizes the best way to operate equipment,...i.e. planes, motorcycles and cars.....is to recognize one's own limitations, and operate within a safe envelope.....if you want to avoid death and destruction. I inherently have no interest in living on the edge......those that do often don't live long,.....OR,.....their time is coming. Its only a matter of time. Its an absolute fact in aviation.....and true with the machines we operate on the highways. Some just don't recognize that. Hopefully when their time comes,....they don't kill innocent people with them.....but they do, over and over again.......I think people should learn from that.

 

Badass keyboard warrior.

This kind of immature drivel is a perfect example of what gives Vette owners a bad name

blah, blah, blah.

Grow up.

 

Getting way off subject here.......so back to my question to Lars...Post #25.....where is Lars? He made a statement, I am looking for clarification. Does his statements, based on his actual testing, about air cleaner height restrictions affect power output on an engine below 5000 RPM, and is so, how much. Is it measurable or significant? I suspect it is not.

 

MY POINT... for the English-impaired here... was that the car HE has... can move well without blasting the RPM. Some ov us are not so fortunate. Not yet at least. Now whats your problem? That would be YOU... who is picking fights anonymously...

 

Hey... like i said, thats absolutely fair. We all enjoy cars our own way.

Lars hasn't answered my question yet either....

 

So I was able to get the original L48 Q-jet from the previous owner. 17058203 on the carb. It is gummy for sure.

I will get a rebuild kit for it and give it a whirl and see if it feels any different than the 1406 ebrock I have now. I will want to find an electric choke kit though.

 

@lars has the instructions to convert an M4MC to M4ME with an external electric choke. With the correct search terms, you may find the part(s) listed on this Forum. Or email him directly.

Post a photo of your carb! Hopefully it is both gummy AND original.

 

Just about anything will perform better than the 1406, so I'm pretty sure you'll notice a difference. I ran the 1406 for a couple of years, and despite all the tuning, it just didn't produce the driving manners I was looking for. I think I spent more time trying to dial that carb in than actually driving the car.

The 1406 is just not a great carb (in my experience), and this is coming from a guy who uses a lot of Edelbrock products (including carburetors). There are much better carbs in the Eddy lineup, and elsewhere, for that matter.

The quad is just a kick@ss carb, IMO, and that's what they came with anyway. Glad to hear that you got the original back!

 

 

Is this a deal breaker? Found it during disassembly. Does not go all the way through.

 

Vacuum. Leak

 

Figured that was possible. Time to find a baseplate to match

 

meh. Nothing a little JB Weld couldn't fix.