thanks guys! Yeah I've only met the guy 3 times (fireup was #3) & he said he has been putting this together for 1&1/2 to 2 years (wife/kids/job are such a distraction!) and he was pretty bent out of shape when it locked up. That Challenger looks like the day it rolled off the showroom floor. before fireup I chided him that he looked more nervous than an expectant papa would be! & he did not think that was very funny (he was sweatin bullets which I don't blame him). I did not have the timing advanced as much as he thought it should be (he was right), probably coulda used another 10 deg & he was thinking that that was the cause but it did not get over 160 in a mech gauge plumbed to a bypass line at the WP and this was with 3 or 4 minutes of run time (thoughts on that?). when I posted this I expected to get a few replies especially since the eng ain't undone yet to find what did happen and I certainly did not expect it to morph into what it did. I will put another call into him tonight. we're all good here (for now!). RR