new to me 68 Barracuda Conv, sluggish 318

nxtdrnaybr said
Hi All,

So I just picked up a 68 Barracuda Convertible. I am new to the Mopar world, but to me the engine seems quite sluggish. I am first in the process of changing out all the fluids and starting fresh along with new plugs, carb cleaning.... Next will be to check/set the timing.

Here is what I know about it:

the 318 engine(3spd auto) was rebuilt around 1997, about 17k miles since then

at the time 340 J heads were put on along with valve job etc, but I can't find any evidence of any porting etc

It's got a Edelbrock 318/360 Performer Intake and a Edelbrock 1405 4 barrel carb

Dual exhaust. no headers

I am not expecting it to be a speed demon, but it just seems super sluggish. I haven't really laid into it yet since I haven't checked everything out, but what would you check or think might be the culprit for the lack of power?

I know compression may be an issue related to the 340 heads, which I'll get checked, but I would think even with that it should still have more power. It almost feels more like a V6....

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Nice car, and welcome! It's so hard to know how close (or how far off it is) because what one calls sluggish another calls running great. Feels like a V6??? What V6? New Challenger, Mustang or Camaro? Them are all easy 14 second cars in which case if you run like that, I'd say it's running great. But all in all, I would start with:

timing. Initial and Total.
Check that the throttle is coming all the way open
Make sure the heat riser flap on the exhaust manifold (if it has one) is free and opening