Camshafts and Compression

Valman,
I am in Sydney. Your Rhoads lifters will make it easier, not harder, to crank the engine. I wouldn't be in a hurry to remove them just yet. I modify std lifters to work like Rhoads. While they crank up the low end, they also act as anti-pump up lifters on the top end. Not saying they stop pump up, but they will reduce it because of the bleed down feature.

The TQ. I posted some pics of TQ mods in the Fuel & Air section, Dec 14, 2023. These WORK. Recently did the mods on a 6394 for a bloke in WA. A friend of mine with a 455 Pontiac ran 119 mph at Eastern Creek with the TQ modified. 3900 lb without driver, 3.36 axle, T400, Victor int man, street radials, reverse patttern cam, street registered & driven, 850 rpm idle in gear. He had little drag racing experience, running low 11s. NO tuning was done at the track such as ign timing, air valve [ AV ] position etc.

Comments on your TQ. There is no 6164 TQ in my master catalog, probably you have the 6461. It comes 98/137 jets & #2005 rods. I have never had to go more than about 2 thou bigger on the pri jets. 105 seems excessive. The Ferd 9000 series TQs here were 800s & had large 101 pri jets, but they also had much bigger pri air bleeds, which leaned the mixture. Probably for emissions. They also had smaller sec hi speed bleeds, 0.029" v the 0.039" used on the 6000 series carbs. The small size probably accounts for the smaller sec jets.
Since you have removed the choke, I would remove the x/over shaft that runs across the AV. Braze a small piece of steel over the opening left in the AV.
I NEVER use 1 1/4 turns on the AV spring, too loose. I use 2 turns. I would also go bigger on the AV opening, not 0.500". The opening also controls distribution as well as total air flow.
The top of the AV is bent forward. The original comp series had that straight. I straighten them sometimes. It starts the sec airflow earlier.
I have NEVER had to use the inner holes on the acc pump lever, only use the outer hole. These have a big 30cc pump & of course a very efficient design that doesn't need a heap of fuel to cover a bad design.
If you have the PCV hooked up, make sure engine vacuum is high enough to pull in the pintle. If not, cut off a piece of 3/8" bolt & drill a 1/8" hole through it; shove this inside the PCV hose.
If you need bypass air, drill the sec blades, not the pri because you could get nozzle drip.
If the engine is making a lot of HP, you should use 0.110" n/seats. Had to do this recently on a 440 I built that was laying over in 2nd gear. I just drill the factory seats. Use this chart to reset the f/level.

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You’re friends Pontiac sounds awesome! 11’s in a big car like that would be great fun.
That carb I have had 125 secondary jets in it when I got it, I put the 143’s in it.