>>>*Evening! I believe you emailed me earlier, here is some more info that might be helpful.
One neat feature of our 268C/Torkr design is it is very computer friendly. Only 218 degrees duration @ .050" lobe lift, and only 2 degrees of overlap, volume is made up in ramp speed.
So when all is right, intake manifold vacuum is normal, thus idle quality is perfectly normal. This means the stock settings for the system will be correct, all others will be wrong.
You explain that you have the cam timing one full tooth advanced, I can think of no situation where this would be correct, or would perform properly. What this does tell me is very likly the cam timing is late when setup on the mark due to the head being surfaced. It would need to be quite a bit I would think, like .030" or perhaps more since advancing one tooth seems to help as you report.
This does complicate things since the actual figure is unknown.
You mentioned an intake noise in your email, noise of this type is usually what we call "standoff" or actual reversion in the intake air horn itself. The common description is of "air rushing" or a puttering/purring noise. Sometimes a pop sound as the throttle is quickly opened can be a symtom. The cause could be a large valve timing error, or even one or more valves bent creating a passage into the intake as the piston moves up the bore. A very poor compression seal due to a bad valve job will also do this. From your description I suspect one or both of these two may be the case.
One thing is very sure, you cannot operate the engine this way for long without damage. I would suggest you get some foundation testing done, a leakdown test and compression test are good places to start.
It may well be that asking around to see if you can find a good local tech with knowledge and equipment may be helpful, I would think the fuel savings alone from getting it right would easily pay the cost.
I have been known to ask for help many times myself when some odd problem beats my poor abilities.
You are welcome to email anytime, I will be glad to try and help if I can....*EB
