In theory, Sarah and I should be two hours past Sacramento about
now, on the way to the Fat Chance Garage. Since I don't have a cellphone,
modem and laptop installed in her, you can see that I'm not...
5:30 pm pick up sarah. discover that the only thing he's done
is get the paint off the wheelbox threads and make the passenger door
fit better; the bumper isn't on, and the boot lid still scrapes.
sigh.
6:00 install speedo cable and speedo. replace main beam indicator
with one that has a proper frame ground. straighten and install
B post finishers and snaps. call in a pizza strike.
6:30 install tonneau snap brackets. devour pizza and beer.
7:00 begin installing hood.
8:00 finish installing hood, pull off carbs.
8:30 carbs on the bench, fit brass spacers to emissions style floats
so they don't catch on the jets of the pre-emissions float bowl (much
sawing and filing). Set float level to .775, make sure both needles
are my new 2Hs instead of one old and one new, make sure needle heights
are the same, centralize jets, turn them down three turns.
9:30 install carbs and try starting.
10:00 runs, not well, under own power, after much starting fluid
and coaxing. White smoke under the hood, backfires out of the front
carb (impressive ones!) no smoky vapor in the throat of the rear carb.
While running, put hand over rear throat, hear the piston rise up but
no perceptible difference in running. Shut off, pull out the jet,
no fuel in the rear float bowl. Probing with a pick and mirror seems
to indicate that there is no range of motion for the float.
11:00 carbs on the bench. Indeed, the floats aren't moving; the front one
barely moves, but not enough. Certainly not as much as the old floats
do when installed. Consider, briefly, installing the old floats
which hav visible cracks but don't seem to seep water. Begin to wonder
if the Grose-Jets combined with the thicker late floats are too big
for this float bowl. Find old jets, determine that there is a height
difference. Install old jets with just a fiber washer, no crush washer,
reset float height to .730, centralize jets blah blah blah.
12:00 starts and runs with something approaching a decent but very
rought idle. Warm up, can't tell any difference in rpms by manipulating
lifting pin, exhaust note sounds rich. Find the ColorTune. #3 cylinder
is quite yellow (rich), bring the mixture down to almost blue,
starts stalling. OK, I figure, there's too much imbalance front to rear,
do the front. That and the idle setting may now be too low. #1
is very rich. Turning it down doesn't yield blue, sometimes hints
of blue accompanied by rough running and white smoke from
somewhere in the engine -- seems to be the bottom end but indistinct.
12:45 declare failure and go to bed.
|