Continuing the story that began in this thread (I am no longer authorized to reply to it? Maybe because it's an old thread?)
Yes, I'm lazy. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. There, I said it.
However, there are some updates, and a notable improvement at the very end.
I guess I didn't want to admit that such a low mileage carburetor could've gotten something funky in it, so I changed everything else.
Thus far:
It was 70 degrees out last Sunday, in New Jersey. I had ZERO excuse for further procrastination.
I tweaked the idle speed and mixture, and I was fussy about it, spent more time adjusting than I did actually replacing it. I'm still fussy, I want to fine tune it a little more.
Previously, idle was a mess, all over the place, very unsteady, and a struggle to prevent it from dying. Vacuum at best was about 13-14 in Hg.
With this "crusty" carburetor, the idle is butter smooth, and the vacuum gauge reads a rock-solid 19 in Hg idling in park, hot. The needle doesn't twitch or vibrate at all. The car drives BEAUTIFULLY now, and at a light, not the slightest twitch or shake when stopped and in gear. I don't think I'll get the original rebuilt, except maybe as a learning experience to teach myself to rebuild it. I really didn't expect the junkyard carb to be near perfect.
I've driven the car back and forth to work twice. I'll probably do a bit more commuting with it, go through a tank or two of gas, to see if there's any changes in fuel economy - I figure on maybe a marginal improvement as the times I'm idling or at very low speed, I won't have to keep playing with the throttle, and smelling that stink of too much gas in between bursts of not enough gas.
Next up:
As to the cleaning out part - I've heard that using the Lucas fuel additive does a pretty good job gradually clean stuff up - I'm not all that concerned with the carburetor, but more on whether there's deposits in the cylinders, heads, etc from the incredibly irregular fuel mixture that was going on with the bad carb. Also, it does ping on hard throttle, though that might just be a tuneup, and maybe clean the EGR passages?
But, I read something about using Seafoam and having it sucked in through a vacuum line. That doesn't entirely sound safe to me. Has anyone else heard of this?
Surface rust - ok, some time back, Hot Rod tested a few rust removers, and one is Rust-B-Gone (at the time of the article, called Rust-Eze). I'm going to try it, but I also understand it'll denature any paint it touches. I assume it'll remove primer, too.
But, to prevent further rust, I was told once (long ago) not to use primer, but instead "primer-sealer" since ordinary primer will absorb moisture rather than repel it, whereas primer-sealer will apparently keep moisture out.
I know NOTHING about any of this - is primer-sealer hard to get? Everything I've seen in the parts stores is just called "primer" and that's it. This is completely unknown territory for me, so any guidance in this department would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, I'm lazy. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. There, I said it.
However, there are some updates, and a notable improvement at the very end.
I guess I didn't want to admit that such a low mileage carburetor could've gotten something funky in it, so I changed everything else.
Thus far:
- New speedometer cable
- Replace charcoal canister with junkyard unit - now it doesn't stink like gas under the hood (thanks 81Regal)
- Replace all rubber fuel lines
- Replace all rubber vacuum lines
- Replace fuel pump (new Carter unit)
- Replace carburetor with junkyard unit (thanks again 81Regal)
It was 70 degrees out last Sunday, in New Jersey. I had ZERO excuse for further procrastination.
I tweaked the idle speed and mixture, and I was fussy about it, spent more time adjusting than I did actually replacing it. I'm still fussy, I want to fine tune it a little more.
Previously, idle was a mess, all over the place, very unsteady, and a struggle to prevent it from dying. Vacuum at best was about 13-14 in Hg.
With this "crusty" carburetor, the idle is butter smooth, and the vacuum gauge reads a rock-solid 19 in Hg idling in park, hot. The needle doesn't twitch or vibrate at all. The car drives BEAUTIFULLY now, and at a light, not the slightest twitch or shake when stopped and in gear. I don't think I'll get the original rebuilt, except maybe as a learning experience to teach myself to rebuild it. I really didn't expect the junkyard carb to be near perfect.
I've driven the car back and forth to work twice. I'll probably do a bit more commuting with it, go through a tank or two of gas, to see if there's any changes in fuel economy - I figure on maybe a marginal improvement as the times I'm idling or at very low speed, I won't have to keep playing with the throttle, and smelling that stink of too much gas in between bursts of not enough gas.
Next up:
- basic tune up (though now it feels like it doesn't need it)
- cleaner to help get out any carbon deposits (thoughts/recommendations? I've heard of something about using "seafoam through a vacuum line into the intake" but that doesn't sound right to me)
- take care of surface rust (yeah, two years of sitting outside, and the peeling paint has transformed into gobs of surface rust)
As to the cleaning out part - I've heard that using the Lucas fuel additive does a pretty good job gradually clean stuff up - I'm not all that concerned with the carburetor, but more on whether there's deposits in the cylinders, heads, etc from the incredibly irregular fuel mixture that was going on with the bad carb. Also, it does ping on hard throttle, though that might just be a tuneup, and maybe clean the EGR passages?
But, I read something about using Seafoam and having it sucked in through a vacuum line. That doesn't entirely sound safe to me. Has anyone else heard of this?
Surface rust - ok, some time back, Hot Rod tested a few rust removers, and one is Rust-B-Gone (at the time of the article, called Rust-Eze). I'm going to try it, but I also understand it'll denature any paint it touches. I assume it'll remove primer, too.
But, to prevent further rust, I was told once (long ago) not to use primer, but instead "primer-sealer" since ordinary primer will absorb moisture rather than repel it, whereas primer-sealer will apparently keep moisture out.
I know NOTHING about any of this - is primer-sealer hard to get? Everything I've seen in the parts stores is just called "primer" and that's it. This is completely unknown territory for me, so any guidance in this department would be greatly appreciated.
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