71 LT1 Power curve/red-line question.
For any of you LT-1 owners, does your car continue to pull up to redline or approaching redline 6-6,500 rpms. Mine has the stock springs in the distributor and seems to level off and not pull after about 5,000 rpms. I'm not trying to blowup and original engine that has never been worked on--just asking. I hear people saying their LT1 just keeps pulling as you give it gas--but maybe that's not true. Thanks Paul
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Re: 71 LT1 Power curve/red-line question.
IIRC the low compression '71-'72 LT-1s were rated at 5600 rather than 6000. The effect of lower compression drops peak power rated speed in addition to dropping peak power 5-8 percent, so it's not as rev-happy as the '70 high compression version.
Also, since the OE spark advance map is set up for emission control rather than fuel economy and power, you should look at the specs and see if it can be improved. A total of 38-40 degrees WOT spark advance all in as soon as possible is what you want, and given that your engine was designed for regular unleaded fuel you should be able to develop a very aggressive spark advance map if you switch to premium fuel.
If you ever rebuild it, raising the compression to 10-10.5:1 and massaging the heads will make it a totally different engine on the top end without messing up the low end or idle.
Duke
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