I thought it was foam from the fire truck! 😱I saw this picture and I thought you gave you car a cryogenic treatment......😎
BUILD THREAD Street/Strip Cutlass Build: Race it, break it, fix it, repeat.
- Thread starter Kwik_Cutty88
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I haven't been doing much to the car unfortunately. I have been chasing an intermittent misfire since October, and I think I've got it sorted out now. Basically the car would misfire on cylinder 1, 7 or sometimes 2. It would only do it when cold, and most times would clear up when the car was warmed up. I ended up finding that it had really inconsistent spark on those cylinders. Comparing the distributor rotor that was in in the car to a spare I had, it had excessively high resistance, and seemed like it might have had some corrosion. So I swapped that, put in a fresh set of plugs and the misfire was gone. The next day I took it on a 45 mile ride and it seemed ok until it started to backfire out of the carburetor. If you put almost any load on it, or gave it more than 1/4 throttle it would sputter and spit out of the carb. So I limped it home and didn't touch it for a day. The next day it was totally fine. I haven't had time to investigate, but when I do, I'm going to double check timing, and then mess with the carburetor more to make sure the accelerator pump isn't going bad. I may end up just ordering a carb rebuild kit. I also need to figure out why it won't go up on the fast idle when warming up, even with the choke working properly. Ohhh the joys of carburetors 
Now that the long winded part is out of the way, I just painted a spare alternator I had while I was home for Christmas break. I forgot to get an installed photo 😳 But I am glad to get rid of the chrome one, it really stuck out in my engine bay. It also charges way better than the chrome one I had. And this is only 63 amps, I may get a 100 amp upgrade kit. These 10/12si alternators are so easy to take apart.
Now for a little to do list:
I've got a lot of little things that have been bugging me that I want to tighten up.
-My heater box is leaking, I need to sort that out
-Install my new ignition box
-Fix the dome light, and courtesy lights
-I've really got to find a hood spring that is strong enough, but not too strong for my hood. I've got to beat on the hood to open it now and that really isn't safe.
-The car just needs a deep cleaning. The engine bay, interior, degrease the outside, etc.
Now that the long winded part is out of the way, I just painted a spare alternator I had while I was home for Christmas break. I forgot to get an installed photo 😳 But I am glad to get rid of the chrome one, it really stuck out in my engine bay. It also charges way better than the chrome one I had. And this is only 63 amps, I may get a 100 amp upgrade kit. These 10/12si alternators are so easy to take apart.
Now for a little to do list:
I've got a lot of little things that have been bugging me that I want to tighten up.
-My heater box is leaking, I need to sort that out
-Install my new ignition box
-Fix the dome light, and courtesy lights
-I've really got to find a hood spring that is strong enough, but not too strong for my hood. I've got to beat on the hood to open it now and that really isn't safe.
-The car just needs a deep cleaning. The engine bay, interior, degrease the outside, etc.
I think we finally got this misfire/running poorly thing figured out. A couple weeks ago I made an appointment to get it inspected, but couldn't get it to fire up. It hadn't been started in about a week. Normally this is no big deal, might take a second longer or two cranking but it would usually fire right up. Not this time, it was so loaded up for some reason it was just spitting fuel out of the exhaust pipe. So I rebooked my appointment and ordered a carb rebuild kit. Once i tore the carburetor down, there was definitely a little bit of gunk inside, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary for a carb that had been on a car for 4-5 years. I think what was happening is that somehow gas was leaking slowly through the carb, into the combustion chamber and fowling out the plugs while parked. I'm not sure, but it seems to be fixed now!
Misfire thing still isnt fixed. 🙁
The carb rebuild definetly helped, but the issue will still return if you let it sit for a few days.
I’ve got a few things on my list to check, some are just because I’ve never or haven't checked them in a while.
-fuel pressure
-leak down
-compresison test
-valve adjustment
It runs decent if I dont let it sit more than a week, so I’ve been trying to do that.
I’ve also been trying to make a bracket for my MSD box. For some reason these little brackets have just been fighting me. I can’t get a result I’m happy with. In times like this I like to move on to something else and come back to it.
I’ve got a lot of “spring” cleaning to do, I’ve already got the engine out of the way. (I may end up paiting the valve covers.
I also got another AC compressor, I might finally have some working AC again!
The carb rebuild definetly helped, but the issue will still return if you let it sit for a few days.
I’ve got a few things on my list to check, some are just because I’ve never or haven't checked them in a while.
-fuel pressure
-leak down
-compresison test
-valve adjustment
It runs decent if I dont let it sit more than a week, so I’ve been trying to do that.
I’ve also been trying to make a bracket for my MSD box. For some reason these little brackets have just been fighting me. I can’t get a result I’m happy with. In times like this I like to move on to something else and come back to it.
I’ve got a lot of “spring” cleaning to do, I’ve already got the engine out of the way. (I may end up paiting the valve covers.
I also got another AC compressor, I might finally have some working AC again!
If the car sits for extended periods, I'd be willing to bet that you're trying to fight a low voltage issue. Try a battery tender or unhooking the battery if it's going to sit.
Resting voltage is usually good, but I’ll try that just for the hell of it. I’m convinced its some sort of fueling problem, or possibly bad valve seals. Maybe they have a little oil seepage into the combustion chamber?
I’m missing a picture of #1 for some reason. (These were taken back in december.)
Just a side note, this engine has always had a little oil on the threads since we put it together 4+ years ago.
Also a side note, I made no tuneup changes. As far as jetting goes. I have changed timing and played with carb adjustments.
The engine has had this intermittent issue for almost a year now. 9 times out of 10, It’ll run 100% normally after it clears itself out.
Valve seals have been on my list of things to check. But I want to do a leak down/compression test before I touch anything.
Just a side note, this engine has always had a little oil on the threads since we put it together 4+ years ago.
Also a side note, I made no tuneup changes. As far as jetting goes. I have changed timing and played with carb adjustments.
The engine has had this intermittent issue for almost a year now. 9 times out of 10, It’ll run 100% normally after it clears itself out.
Valve seals have been on my list of things to check. But I want to do a leak down/compression test before I touch anything.
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