3504mula

My brother just bought an 89 Formula with the 305 TBI and 700r4. It is a nice car, but here is the problem:
I don't know how much power this car is supposed to have, but it has to have more than this. At about half throttle it feels great (actually stronger than I thought it would), but then I floored it. First gear is ok but it shifts at ~4250 rpms (which is fine) but then at about 3250 rpms in second it dies and will harldy pull any more. The plugs and wires I believe were just replaced (they look new). I was thinking about a fuel filter, but I know that is a long shot. Any other ideas? I guess I could go through the whole tune up if that is what is best, but he is looking not to spend too much right now (we are poor, ok?). I will be doing all maintenance to this car, so I hope I can help him out. I don't want to take it somewhere mostly b/c I love working on these cars.
BTW we figured out he was getting about 17-18 mpg around town, which isn't terrible, but that is what my car gets (350 TPI with mods and gears). I figured with those 2.73 gears it would get a little better.
Thanks for any help guys.
Jonathan

Beast5spdGTA

How fast are you going when it starts to die out? Does the engine still feel smooth?

These cars don't have much HP or torque in the mid-upper rpm range stock. They don't have the same "feel" as a TPI car IMO (there is no mid-range boost).

When my car had a stock cam and no headers, I used to swear it just stopped accelerating after ~60-70 mph. Car still ran OK at the track though. Even with the headers and the car running high 14's, it still felt lacking at high speeds and high rpms. The cam has seemed to fix all of that.

3504mula

I will drive it again tomorrow. Maybe it is just slow?? It does feel like it stops accelerating. He got beat by his friends 94 Thunderbird 4.6 pretty bad. Is this normal? My ex's Tbird with intake and exhaust ran 16.3. His friend's is stock...maybe we should start modding????!!

Beast5spdGTA

Yes start modding, the ave. times are usually ~16.0-16.5 and maybe slower for an auto. They have no top endThey respond to mods better than a TPI car IMO, b/c of even worse exhaust and intake stock. Go look under the car at the size of the y-pipe and cat, it's hilarious. Edelbrock headers for a TPI car (3" cat and y-pipe) really woke my car up, .6 sec gain and 5 mph in the 1/4.

Hopefully by tomorrow(maybe longer for little webpage) I'll have all my time slips scanned to show a nice mod vs 1/4 mile list. Ranging from 15.8 @ 87 mph to current 14.48 @ 96 mph.

swerve-driver

Depending on how many miles are on the car, you may want to check both the cat and the fuel filter. I'd change the fuel filter unless it looks like it has been changed very recently.

Best of luck-
S-D