My 5.0 86 camaro's acceleration seems to be slacking.. .. When i build some speed than hammer it, it has a 3 or 4 second hesitation before it jumps and runs hard.. Why is that? What should i check? what are some things that could being playing a role in the decreased acceleration speed? Any advice helps.. (im fairly new to this so please bare with while i do my best to learn.. thanks!)

 

Engine, year, carbed, injected, details. Need to know what you are dealing with.

 

its an 86, z28 carbed 305 and is all stock.. The valve stem seals need to be replaced.. Probably all of them. Blows smoke when i start it, but goes away after a i get moving.. I dont know if that would effect it

 

Smoke is not a good thing, and it is telling you the engine has seen better days. The 305 is not known for its power so you may be expecting more than it has to give.

This may or may not help: check timing, replace plugs & wires, make sure the air cleaner is clean, make sure the carb is ajusted properly, including the accelerator pup linkage.

 

And check your choke to make sure the choke is in check.

 

carb is adjusted properly, i recently replaced plugs and plug wires. Im thinking maybe somthing to do with fuel lines? pump? I dont know the symptoms but i would imagine that could affect the acceleration... And i do relize a 305 isnt exactly a power house, but even for a 30 it seems like it could be better.. Just trying to make it better till i get my 383

 

I had something similar in my 67. I blamed the carb since it was a 2bbl and there were cracks inside around the adjustment screws (on the inside). I replaced the carb (4bbl) and pump, put in some fuel filters and it was great after.

 

What type of carb is it?

 

Its a qaudrajet..

 

The carb would be my guess. I would replace the power valve (spring), I have experienced hesitation problems like that when the power valve has been cracked/torn or the spring may be bad, resulting in a large amount of fuel delivery at low rpms=hesitation and poor throttle response. If the timing is off even a little a "sneeze" is enough to break them. When you get it out look at the stamping on the front of it so u can get the same one. If that doesn't solve the problem begin with the basics. Read the plugs...check the firing order...check/reset the timing...check the accelerator pumps and tune the carburetor.