First time out since mods

I had the '68 (289 Ford Interceptor) out on Chocolat Bayou this afternoon for the first time since I added the GT-40P heads, the SpeedPro Cam, the Holley 450 CFM 4V, and the solid-state ignition conversion. It needs a little tuning but otherwise runs real nice. It planes a lot quicker and really scoots. The exhaust sounds about 2 octaves lower than before. It sounds like a real heavy breather. Interesting though, after about 30 minutes at about 1/4 throttle I decided to open it up. The secondaries came in and it felt real nice. After about 30 seconds at full throttle my girlfriend and I began to smell serious smoke. I shut it down, lifted the motor box expecting to see flames... ...saw nothing. Everything seemed OK. Tried it again, no smoke or fire. I guess it was something internal (in the rebuilt carb?) that just got cleaned out. I highly recommend the solid-state conversion if you are still running points. The other mods I made (above) are just options.

I think the smoke may have been paint. I painted the whole engine. I replaced the prop before I ran the boat yesterday. I installed an OJ with a high amount of rake and large cups and a new prop shaft. It is still a 12 x 13.

My plan is to head back to Chocolate Bayou next week-end. They have a lift.

I'd need to do a little timing and carb adjustment. I doubt if my old water soaked '68 can keep up with your Nautique. It would be fun though. Nice looking boat.

I'll be in the bayou with no back floor or seat (to adjust the seals). I took on a little too water.

Captan, what spark plug are you running? Determining what spark plug to run was the most difficult part of installing the heads. Try going into Autozone and ordering spark plugs for a 1968 boat with a reverse rotation Ford 289 and GT40P heads. That's a no-go.

The main reason I swapped heads is that I could not stand the thought of those little-bitty rinky-dink press-in rocker studs and the sloppy manner in which the rockers were held in alignment on the old Ford stock heads. It drove me nuts thinking about it.

I (and probably a lot of others) am struggling a little with converting my mental thought process to my hot-rod days of trying to get a small block to 6500 RPMs as fast as possible; to setting up to run at some unknown optimum RPMs continuously - it's different.

What are your wide-open-throttle RPMs? Do you run it wide open for extended periods?

The SpeedPro cam is it is a little "hotter" than stock. Someone on the forum recommended it to me and I am happy with it. It is made by Federal Mogul and is a reverse rotation designed for a 351. I bought it from Carolina Auto. A guy there named Jeff understands boats. It seems reverse rotation cam blanks for 289/302 engines are not to be found. The intake lift is .278 and exhaust is .283. Duration at .050 is 206/221. (This may be "stock" for a 351 - I dunno). I had planned to go to a hotter Comp Cam and I am glad now that I did not. The hotter cam would have resulted in higher idle speeds and I already have trouble idling through "no wake" zones. I get hollered at a lot. (But if they get real mad they probably can't catch me.) I can only go as slow as the engine can idle.

I found the heads to be a fairly easy "bolt-on".

Anyone reading this with points still in their distributor - Go install an electronic conversion NOW! You can throw the old point set under your seat for a backup if it makes you feel better.