Jon, There, I did it. I set the exhausts at .010 and the intakes at .008. It isnÆt much louder, just that with 8/8 it was unusually quiet for this motor. Runs great, again, as before. Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear of the bugs. Were they there before the cam?

I know that with mine, in installing the cam I failed to get the distributor right, and had to pull the distributor and reinstall it. Maybe timing is something to check. As for the sooty plug, I think of faulty plug wires, plugs, distributor cap. Is the plug in right? These aluminum heads are easy to cross-thread. I use some kind of thread-lube on mine. ItÆs silver and slimy and the plugs donÆt stick when you go to take them out, and itÆs easier to feel if you are cross-threading. I also had broken rings in a rebuild once, and that sucked oil.

EGRàI believe mine doesnÆt work, because the channel in the intake manifold is plugged with carbon. It never has, since I bought this truck. The only bad effect I know of is that it sometimes backfires when shiftingàbut IÆm not sure that is EGR either. Passed emissions fine. My point is, that might not be the cause of low power. If it was me I would look hard at timing, first.

IÆm interested to hear how it goes. THX, Rick