Hello All,

Been reading a lot, but this is my first post. A few months ago I purchased a 1978 Jeep CJ7 that has an AMC 360 in it with 15K since a rebuild. Currently it has the following:

- Edelbrock 600 CFM carb with electric choke (no spacer)
- Edelbrock Performer AMC intake manifold
- Stock ignition module (the one installed is made by Wells)
- Stock Distributor with large cap and tall rotor modification
- Engine Bore unknown
- Crank stroke unknown, but most likely stock
- Cam unknown, but the idle says it is most likely NOT stock
- Stock exhaust manifolds to a single exhaust out the rear (no cat)
- No emissions components except for the charcoal vapor cannister
- T150 tranny and Dana 20 t-case.

It starts very easily when cold and is a bit harder to start when warm, but starts after about 4-5 crank revolutions. It idles well and runs strong. The problem is that I have no idea what strong really means because I have nothing to compare it to (unless my 2007 Avalanche counts, but this is like comparing a go-cart to a limo). I have already ordered the HEI dizzy from right hear at Bulltear so I will see if that adds to the performance.

My question is...short of putting the Jeep on a dyno, what is the best way to get a feeling of how close to perfect the engine is running? What I mean by perfect is...am I getting the torque and horsepower out of it that it is designed to produce? I am sorry if this is an odd question, but reading through this forum is a bit overwhelming. I want to steadily improve the Jeeps performance, but I am not a fan of big dollars for small gains if you know what I mean. I like low hanging fruit...YUM!

Any and all comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

--Aaron