I don't think I had a previous post on here about this problem but if I did feel free to repost it. I did have an earlier post about not knowing how much my heads were shaved when my intake would not fit. This is why I'm wondering if the heads shaved may be causing me too much lifter preload.
This 440 has less then 2500 miles on it since it was all rebuilt basically all stock except for this camshaft and valvesprings and a MP distributor. I put this cam in with new timing chain and gears and did not degree it. My car idles around 15* initial timing and goes up to about 35* when it's all in. At idle my vacuum gauge fluctuates an inch or two around 14". It idles a lot better with the intial timing farther advanced and I get a deeper vacuum, around 18in., but then the car fights the starter. So, I retarded the timing until the engine turns over easy. That's at 15*. The rest of my problem is that the engine is missing horribly. It shakes really, really bad, it has little low end power, and the exhaust stinks really bad. Enough that I need the change clothes after being around the car for a few minutes. The miss doesn't go away when I rev the motor and it seems to be getting worse over time. There's always been a slight miss that's now getting worse. Can degreeing the cam possibly show me a problem to be corrected? I checked over and over again for a vacuum leak and cannot find one. The disributor cap, rotor, wires, and spark plugs are all new. I've been trying to hunt down someone who can help me out with this. I haven't had any luck so far.