No top end power

[squidberg]

Feels like a rev limiter. It cuts out. 

[Hans]

Does the 123 have that feature?

[rstclark]

Yes

[Hans]

Could it be set at, say, 5800?

Is it rev limiter rotor?

Edited October 15, 2022 by Hans

[ray_]

1 minute ago, Hans said:

Could it be set at, say, 5800?

 

And, say, could a 50 year old tach be inaccurate?

 

;-)

[Chris_B]

Even if it was, would it cause the rev limiting effect described? My 02 will pull well past 7K RPMS. I have my 123 dizzy set to rev limit at 6.5KRPMs. Unless you are saying that the 123 is set for some higher rev limit but the tach is only showing ~5800...

 

I personally have never seen an 02 tach that gave a steady reading that turned out to be low. They seem to either work or not (be obviously non-op or flaky). But then, I haven't seen everything.

[squidberg]

The 123 has a digital tach. It is set to “limit” at 8000. It never got above 5800 when floored going downhill. My mechanical tach agrees with the 123 until the needle gets stuck at 4000.
I am guessing it’s the old springs/rockers and unknown cam. We spent time building the lower end and then ran out of time for the head and just slapped it together with what we had before my son had to move. So I guess that leaves me with a nice project for this year. 

[Chris_B]

That info would have been helpful to have up front. Are you saying that your tach gets stuck at 4K RPMs and the motor continues to spin up past that point?

 

 

[squidberg]

Sorry for the confusion. This entire post has been based upon the digital tach readings from the 123. And on seat of the pants feel. My daughter has a 2002 as well and hers pulls to at least 6000. Whereas this car really craps out. 
 

 

 

[squidberg]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I put in a mechanical distributor and a throttle linkage from Hal Boyles of 2002 only. The car is fast now, pulls hard to 6500. It was a good car day.

[Chris_B]

Seems to suggest that the 123 dizzy may have crapped out, but if you changed out two things at once that would be hard to say. Linkage problems (e.g., the throttle wasn't opening all of the way) could easily cause the problem you had. Your thoughts?

[squidberg]

The throttle alone didn’t fix it. Once I got the linkage dialed in it still had no pull above 4000rpm. Then I put in the machanical dizzy and it pulls hard. So I think there was something wrong with 123blutooth unit I got. I am returning it. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by squidberg
Clarification