hey guys, Im new to the forums thought id run a few problems i've been having by everyone. I recently bought a 1966 Pontiac Lemans, the engine was shot so we threw in a 350 out of a 73' firebird. Block has 70,000 miles on it, i got 72cc heads off a 400, hardened push rods, high RPM springs, hydro lifters, all the goodies . The heads have been redone so im pretty positive the problems im having arent residing from them.

What im getting is high RPM stuttering (3k), and engine stalling when i floor it from a stop (once i get up to about 1.2k its fine, acceleration still seems poor but it might be the 2.93 gearing). it idles nicely, plug color is perfect. We just got done tuning the carb (holley 4B 650). Adjusted floats for both primary and secondary, vacuum seal was broken for secondaries so we replaced that. fuel/air adjusted correctly, there was a slight increase in performance, but it is still crippled :P.

What i noticed today was, the boots on the plug wires on cylinders 4,8 were soaked in oil. Pulling the wires off showed a large amount of oil inside the wires boot (were the spark plug and the conductor meet). I did some researching and came across a lot of engine problems resulting from this, only problem was, i couldn't find any clear answers because the design in how the plugs 'plug' into the cylinders is different (a 1973 v8 and a 2001 v8 differ greatly in design). My Plugs dont sit in a well, they are sticking out, so oil cant really puddle up around them. I guess what im asking is does the oil that built up inside the boot affect the ignition?

My gasket is ok on my valve cover, oil got to my plugs through my oil re-breather. i have a lot of blow-by and when i get the engine up to higher RPM'S it pushes some of the oil out through the re-breather. (another problem id love to fix, so any pointers would be excellent.)

Me and my dad built the engine, its a work in progress as you can see :P. we are certainly not professionals and are looking for some help to get it running the way it should be. i would greatly appreciate anything you guys can throw at me. If you have any questions about my specs ill be happy to answer what i can.

Thanks again guys

-Cody  

well it sounds like more than 1 problem. first you need to know the condition of the engine if none of your gaskets are leaking and you have oil blowing from the breather enough to soak the plug wires that the problem you need to adress first. do a compression test and a leak down test and see where that leaves you, it could be time for a complete rebuild of the bottom end or maybe less you have to test it and see  

i actually did do a compression test a few days ago, but only on cylinders 1-4 results are as followed:

Cylinder 1 : 8.0
Cylinder 2 : 7.8
Cylinder 3 : 8.5
Cylinder 4 : 7.5  

Sounds like the piston rings and/or cylinders are baddly worn.  

pontiacman8 is right sounds like a rebuild  

you sould do all 8 so you know where you started and before you pull it apart do a leak down test in case you have another problem may be on the top  

alright will do . ill keep ya posted