Your float valve may have been stuck open. I would go through it, make sure everything is adjusted like it should be, including float adjustment and blow out all the holes before you put it back together to make sure they are clear. Open the mixture screws only 1 revolution. Then give it another try. Never surrender!
I was thinking that way as well. I've cleaned and pressure tested it. Passed the test. And I had the bowl filled with fuel for half a day and didn't see any leaks from the plugs. So I just reassembled it again, just to give it a try. I swapped the plugs for my old ones (and again wet) and I actually could start it again. Albeit difficult. Wasn't much happening with the choke and without it occasionally fired. But it's 11pm here now, so I'll continue tomorrow. I only need to get it moving in a couple of weeks , after that I have time to do it correctly.
Got it running again today. Was very rough idling, changed the plugs back to the new ones and it ran on all cylinders, thus better. Have the timing set to 0 again, as stated in the manual. Did it with the vacuum off, as soon as I connected manifold vacuum again it idled worse. I do have a steady 20" vacuum. I also noticed that the driver side venturi is dripping fuel and the other one isn't: 20220129_103515 by srb posted Jan 29, 2022 at 10:57 AM All 8 cylinders are firing. I don't know which one is normal; I guess the dripping is not normal. Would make sense if it is way too rich it starts better without a choke. I'll investigate that later; running like this I can move it around. And I did a few passes in the street, also flooring it and it is performing pretty well actually. No bogging or anything like that, I have more power than with my old Holley. Giving the difficult starting, rough idling and difference in vacuum I'm thinking something is wrong in the idle system. Oh, and on the plus side, my electric fan is working perfectly.
The only time the initial timing as listed in the manual applies is if the original distributor (1111335) is used. That is nozzle drip. That indicates the engine is idling on the mains instead of the idle system of the carburetor. That indicates the throttle blades are open too far at idle. Main reason for that? Retarded initial timing. When you hooked your vacuum advance to manifold vacuum, you should have noticed an increase in idle speed. If you didn't, the VA unit is bad. If the RPM did increase, you should have backed out the idle speed screw closing the throttle blades and possibly eliminating the nozzle drip.
Thank you, learning everyday. I indeed have the original distributor. Updating it to a better one is on the to do list, I've read your power timing thread. I've searched the forum for nozzle drip and found some interesting threads, also regarding timing. I'll advance the timing and back off the idle screw.
If you have good engine vacuum, connecting your vacuum advance to manifold vacuum should immediately advance the ignition timing from TDC to 14* or more at idle. There should be a very noticeable increase in idle speed. That should allow you to back off the idle speed screw and close the throttle blades. That should eliminate the nozzle drip and get the carburetor back on the idle system. At that point, you should be able to kill the engine by bottoming the idle mix screws. If the idle mix screws are unresponsive, then the throttle blades are still open too much, and the engine is still running on the mains. Big Block carburetors have passages that allow extra air around the throttle blades so that you can close the throttle blades at idle. Some remanufacturers eliminate the fixed idle air bypass, or the incompatible parts eliminate it. With that 1111335 distributor, you can make use of the brass bushing in the Mr Gasket recurve kit. It will decrease the mechanical timing in the distributor so that you can run more initial advance. https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Gasket-928G-Advance-Curve/dp/B000CMF26I
Ok, I'm an idiot. In the power timing thread was mentioned that you could put an extra mark to show the 30 degrees advanced. I did. And I looked at the wrong mark. I had that one on 0... so it was wayy to advanced. Now I have it at 10 degrees initial en 34 max. Some piece of hose was used to recurve the distributor. But the recurve set in your link is interesting. Nozzle drip is gone now, I could back down the idle screw. It isn't rocksolid idling yet, but I'll look into that later. I can test the mixture screws, that's a nice one. At least I could start it today.
I don't know. The engine is idling rough, but is it rough because there is a leak, or is the vacuum jumping because it's idling rough? 20220131_214436_1 by srb posted Jan 31, 2022 at 10:33 PM Short clip and the main sound you hear is the electric fan. But you see the needle moving and the engine rocking. I sprayed brakecleaner around the carb, but that didn't give a reaction. Bottoming kills the engine.
That fluctuation d0esn't look too bad. try to look at your timing at the same time as the vacuum. If your idle is set too high and the centrifugal advance is just starting to come in, it will cause the idle to fluctuate some and the vacuum to do the same.
Might need to adjust the mixture screws to smooth out the idle. Is that a stock cam? I can't tell if the engine is idling too fast or if it's your fans making the noise in the video.
Stock cam, stock engine. I tried to adjust the screws, but couldn't get it steady. Fan is making too much noise. Perhaps I can make a film of the tailpipes. I have no tachometer, but it's not idling too fast. Nozzle drip is gone.
Fired right up today! With choke. Apparently dialed in correctly. So that's cool. Pumped once to set the choke, turned the key and it was alive. But it's not idling rocksolid. I think I can only upload very short clips, but this is it: 20220201_192824 by srb posted Feb 1, 2022 at 7:43 PM I'll take the carb off once we're moved and I can take the time for it. But for now, thanks everyone for your input.
Well, time to continue with this. In the mean time we have moved to our new home. I've started the car regularly and everytime it fires right up, so choke setting seems fine. I haven't driven it much, since it's not roadworthy yet, but apart from the rough idling it looks ok. Since the idling is still rough, I think it is wise to open it up and clean and regasket it. And apparently my accelerator pump shot is lame, so I would like to buy a gasket set with new ethanol resistant seal. @Cliff R do you have an email I can reach out to? I only see a phone number on your site. But I would like to get a shipping quote for your basic rebuild kit for a 7029241 carb to the Netherlands.
Well finally opened up the carb and started measuring everything. So, I'm a true owner of a "remanufactured" carb. Specs are off. Idle tubes should be .032 or .033 according to Cliff. On his forum I've seen someone mentioning below .040. and mine is .0374 converted from metric drills. I think it's .038. So meh. DCR is way t0o big. Should be .047 and is .067. Is it possible to solder and drill em? I don't have a bypass air. Not sure if I should have one. Not all of them have. Upper idle is way too big. Should be .052 and is .069 (At least, I think this is upper idle) Main air in the body is too small. Should be .069 and is .043. And I have 44B rods instead of 45B. The smaller holes I could drill bigger. But not real sure what to do with the upper idle. Carb is not warped. So with adjustments and Cliffs new set I should be able to make it work. But no wonder it doesn't idle well.
Well, it idles worse. I installed the carb yesterday and parked the car the other way, turned it off. Today it started right up again. On the choke system. It's fairly rough, but it works. Until it's hot. It hardly idles and starts very very dificult. I have to turn the idle set screw a lot in. So the primary blades are angled. Restrictions are smaller now, but supposedly stock. I did change out a foulty spark plug wire, so that didn't help of course. Engine is stock, the distributor is the stock one with slightly little mechanical advance, stock weights, compensated with a little bit more initial timing. Initial is now 8 degrees, total 32. Before, it didn't idle well, but now it's worse. Not sure what to do now. Since it does work when cold and on the choke system, I suspect the idle mixture is too lean, so it won't run when hot. But idle mixture screws have no significant effect. I reached out to Cliff again. Might be another issue, but it so bad it doesn't look a vacuum problem to me.
