[bollybib]

IGNITION, FUEL, & CARBURETOR (Part 3 of 3)

Update 5/17/11: I let the lacquer thinner evaporate from the aluminum pan you see in the previous post. The pile of dirt you see below is what was left at the bottom of the pan. The outside of the carb was pretty clean, so almost all of this came from inside.

Once I felt everything was clean and well blown out, I reassembled and adjusted everything following Edelbrock’s instructions. I set the carb back in the engine, gave it a few cranks to get fuel , and it fired right up. I felt an immediate difference, it was breathing ! After a few tweaks on the screws I took it for a drive and it ran pretty decent with no hesitations or stalls.

It ran so good I decided to be bold and took it out on a couple of short journeys without problem (the first trip was to the gas station haha). I got the truck all the way up to 55 mph, too, eeehah. It drives bi†chen, I was gettin off on sitting way up high, moving two and a quarter tons of steel down the highway. It feels pretty peppy for a heavyweight, it shifts good and with the 4.10 rear it gits. I’ll ignore gas mileage for the moment so I can stay happy !

I had been wanting to load my surfboard in it to haul it to the beach for a surf for the longest time, so I did that, too. When I arrived to my local spot, my buddy checked it out and said, "My dad had one of those trucks". hahaha too cool. There was a nice, glassy, combo swell that day, waist high or so, and just me and two of my buddies out, I was so stoked !

It looks like I got the carb problem worked out (it could use more fine tuning I’m sure). But after my short trips I discovered a lovely pool of gear oil on the pavement beneath my rear end. I redid the cover side not long ago and it is still dry, so it looks like I’ll be replacing the pinion seal next (I hear it is a tough nut to crack that pinion nut is). I also have miscellaneous engine noises and a broken muffler connection that are on the agenda. On and on it goe$.

Distributor cap, rotor, alt belt……..$.33.68
Advance weight kit…………......……….12.50
Spark plugs………………………..........….17.31
Fuel filter , hose, PCV valve……….....15.75
Fuel pipe, fitttings …………………........15.13
Carb inlet pipe & fitting………….......…27.17
Fuel gauge, tstat gasket…………….....18.47
Spring clips (Pomona)………………........1.00
Fuel pressure regulator, hose……….…35.87
Carb rebuild kit……………………….........40.74
Carb floats……………….……….........…..17.39
Lacquer thinner……….………….......…..19.58
Aluminum pans…………………...........……8.12
PCV grommet………………….............……3.05
Air filter gaskets, PCV grommet…….....5.09
Air filter (on hand, a freebie sorta)……0.00

Total…………………………............……$ 270.85