Pontiacs came factory equipped...
Pontiacs came factory equipped with an array of carburetors (we know only the Ram Air V had a Holley, but consider how many Pontiacs are equipped with Holleys today). Cleanliness of the air bleeds and venturi area promotes good fuel delivery and eliminates lean cylinders.
The Motor Octane Number (MON) measures the antiknock quality of a fuel as determined by the ASTM D 2700 method. It is a guide to the antiknock performance of a fuel under relatively severe driving conditions such as at wide-open throttle when the incoming air temperature and engine speed are both high.
Due to the way fuel is rated today, many experts in the petroleum industry are quick to note the octane rating is not as low as one would think when making a comparison to the old days. Many believe that today's 93 octane fuel calculated as R+M/2 is equal in the antiknock quality of the 97-98 octane-fuel years ago.
But keep in mind that during the 60s, fuel of this antiknock rating was considered regular grade. Most, if not all, gas pumps list the octane rating but don't list the RON or MON independently, only the average. This information would be helpful when fighting a pinging problem. For example, if your Pontiac only knocked at light load, then a fuel with a higher MON is needed. A higher RON value most likely wouldn't do anything to help the problem. But since gasoline is what it is and the retailer will not list the octane ratings separately unless mandated by law, we need to accept the facts and learn to work around them.
If using conventional antifreeze,...
If using conventional antifreeze, it's important that the mixture isn't stronger than 50/50. As the level of antifreeze is increased, the heat transfer ability is reduced and the temperature gauge reads lower, but the cylinder head is hotter.
Knock, Ping, and Other Noises
In a spark ignition (SI) engine, the combustion event should be initiated by the arcing of the plug electrode, and the air/fuel mixture should burn smoothly and evenly across the bore. When this occurs, it is known as normal combustion. Anything else is identified as abnormal combustion. On the hobbyist level, we refer to any abnormal combustion event as ping, knock, or detonation. Within the engineering community, where the abnormal ignition event occurs in relation to the piston's position in the bore identifies whether it is pre-ignition, post-ignition, knock, or ping.
Some abnormal combustion is the result of two colliding flame fronts: the first started by the arcing of the spark plug and a separate, rouge flame that was the result of auto-ignition. For this reason, before making any tuning changes to your Pontiac, you should experiment with different brands of gasoline. The RON and MON values can be manipulated to achieve the same average and will impact the way the engine runs. You may find your Pontiac runs perfectly on a certain brand of fuel and may require no further tuning.
A thermal gun is an excellent...
A thermal gun is an excellent way to measure all different temperatures on a Pontiac engine. They are inexpensive and accurate.
In an SI engine, auto-ignition of the end gas in the combustion chamber causes a knocking or pinging sound. When this occurs, engine damage is created by the sharp pressure rise and rough combustion taking place. Localized pressure peaks and the explosion, rather than the burn of the fuel, causes the piston, rings, and rod bearings to shake and make a sound similar to a ball-peen hammer hitting a metal surface. Over time, an engine that constantly pings will show excessive wear in the rings, cylinder walls, and rod bearings. If the detonation becomes severe, the possibility of burning a hole in the piston or lifting a ring land away is very high. This usually occurs when the abnormal ignition event occurs during high engine loads.
For our discussion, we aren't concerned with when the pressure spike and uneven burn occurs, so we're quantifying all abnormal combustion under detonation.