60s Refugee
Well-known member
We had White Castles!
Some of you may have noticed that the fuel lines are missing from the Alpha and Bravo carbs. There's a reason and I will tell you about it later.
Before I tried the starter I once more checked all the fluids and connections. I knew I had lost tranny fluid so I poured two quarts of Car Quest brand "FA" in and checked the stick. Though the engine wasn't running, it showed some so I figured it was safe to start.
It was time. All the thinking, planning, posts, private messages, thread reading, parts gathering, and expense came right down to this moment! My brother put some gas in a cup, poured a little in Bravo carb, and I hit the key. To my astonishment it started right up! IT'S ALIVE!!!! But it died. I expected that but the starter was still cranking! The key was off! Norm pulled the wires off I&S terminal on the solenoid and the starter stopped. What the? I looked it over and realized I had put the white wire from the ign mod to the 'S' terminal instead if the 'I' module. I took the wire off and left it dangle.
We tried again. Norm poured gas in Bravo, I hit the key, and it roared to life immediately, but died again. At least the starter turned off this time.
Third try, gas in carb, hit the key, and again it roars to life! This time it keeps running! The open header cracks like a daisy chain, the dust flies from the floor below. She's running but I have little throttle control. Norm starts to adjust the dizzy while I nurse the pedal. He retards the spark, it runs better, he retards it some more, it really smooths out! I'm thrilled! But, it begins to pick up RPMs, I take my foot off the gas, the RPMs keep climbing, I have no throttle control, I turn off the key. It stops. What the?
Sometimes I do some stupid things. Not as often as some do, but often enough. When I got the head, the carbs looked good. I knew I should rebuild them 'cuz they had been on a shelf for many years. I could not find any rebuild kits for Holley 1921s so I didn't rebuild them. I crossed my fingers and hoped they would be OK. WRONG!
The float had stuck in the alpha carb, dumping raw gas into the intake! CRAP! I took the float cover off and took out the needle valve. Looked OK. Put it back together and tried it again. It stuck again. Now What? :x
I decided to unhook the carbs and get her running on the Bravo carb which I knew to be OK. I removed the lines, ran a temporary hose to Bravo, and fabricated two plates to place between the manifold and the A&C carb bases. Then we tried again.
This worked fine! In no time at all the engine was running smooth, the timing was tweeked and everything running great! I tried to back out of the shop but it wouldn't move. I added two more quarts to the tranny. It was now full and it backed up OK. I drove around the lot a few times. GREAT! Open header! Burning tires! Wind in my face! Alternator belt squealing like a pig!
After it cooled off I tightened the belt and spent the rest of the day putting the dual exhaust on. I resorted to flex pipes for the header connection. I will have an 'H' pipe fabricated at Muffler House on Tuesday. I will also need to run a hand choke to Bravo.
I have driven it now for two days. It is running better than I hoped. The engine is idling fine at 700 RPM. It will still idle as low as 450! WOW! I will tweek the fast idle screw and get it to 750-800. There is a pretty mild cam lope at the 700 mark and it sounds great. At road speed it is much quicker than it was, that is, up to about 65-70 MPH where the lack of fuel starts to show. I ran 'er up to 90mph, but got scared (after all, it is Memorial Day weekend!). It really needs those other two carbs. I can't really tune it much more until I get the rest hooked up. The tranny is a C-4 (not original) with the RND21 pattern and it still has the 7 1/4" diff. I'm looking for a Maverick 6 cyl 8" and I plan to do the high stall/shift kit deal to the tranny. Anybody got a Maverick for sale? I will keep you posted!
Thanks to all of you who helped bring this project to completion! It has been a trip and it has been worth it!arty:
Here's the finished product.
Thanks Again!
Harry
Some of you may have noticed that the fuel lines are missing from the Alpha and Bravo carbs. There's a reason and I will tell you about it later.
Before I tried the starter I once more checked all the fluids and connections. I knew I had lost tranny fluid so I poured two quarts of Car Quest brand "FA" in and checked the stick. Though the engine wasn't running, it showed some so I figured it was safe to start.
It was time. All the thinking, planning, posts, private messages, thread reading, parts gathering, and expense came right down to this moment! My brother put some gas in a cup, poured a little in Bravo carb, and I hit the key. To my astonishment it started right up! IT'S ALIVE!!!! But it died. I expected that but the starter was still cranking! The key was off! Norm pulled the wires off I&S terminal on the solenoid and the starter stopped. What the? I looked it over and realized I had put the white wire from the ign mod to the 'S' terminal instead if the 'I' module. I took the wire off and left it dangle.
We tried again. Norm poured gas in Bravo, I hit the key, and it roared to life immediately, but died again. At least the starter turned off this time.
Third try, gas in carb, hit the key, and again it roars to life! This time it keeps running! The open header cracks like a daisy chain, the dust flies from the floor below. She's running but I have little throttle control. Norm starts to adjust the dizzy while I nurse the pedal. He retards the spark, it runs better, he retards it some more, it really smooths out! I'm thrilled! But, it begins to pick up RPMs, I take my foot off the gas, the RPMs keep climbing, I have no throttle control, I turn off the key. It stops. What the?
Sometimes I do some stupid things. Not as often as some do, but often enough. When I got the head, the carbs looked good. I knew I should rebuild them 'cuz they had been on a shelf for many years. I could not find any rebuild kits for Holley 1921s so I didn't rebuild them. I crossed my fingers and hoped they would be OK. WRONG!
The float had stuck in the alpha carb, dumping raw gas into the intake! CRAP! I took the float cover off and took out the needle valve. Looked OK. Put it back together and tried it again. It stuck again. Now What? :x I decided to unhook the carbs and get her running on the Bravo carb which I knew to be OK. I removed the lines, ran a temporary hose to Bravo, and fabricated two plates to place between the manifold and the A&C carb bases. Then we tried again.
This worked fine! In no time at all the engine was running smooth, the timing was tweeked and everything running great! I tried to back out of the shop but it wouldn't move. I added two more quarts to the tranny. It was now full and it backed up OK. I drove around the lot a few times. GREAT! Open header! Burning tires! Wind in my face! Alternator belt squealing like a pig!
After it cooled off I tightened the belt and spent the rest of the day putting the dual exhaust on. I resorted to flex pipes for the header connection. I will have an 'H' pipe fabricated at Muffler House on Tuesday. I will also need to run a hand choke to Bravo.
I have driven it now for two days. It is running better than I hoped. The engine is idling fine at 700 RPM. It will still idle as low as 450! WOW! I will tweek the fast idle screw and get it to 750-800. There is a pretty mild cam lope at the 700 mark and it sounds great. At road speed it is much quicker than it was, that is, up to about 65-70 MPH where the lack of fuel starts to show. I ran 'er up to 90mph, but got scared (after all, it is Memorial Day weekend!). It really needs those other two carbs. I can't really tune it much more until I get the rest hooked up. The tranny is a C-4 (not original) with the RND21 pattern and it still has the 7 1/4" diff. I'm looking for a Maverick 6 cyl 8" and I plan to do the high stall/shift kit deal to the tranny. Anybody got a Maverick for sale? I will keep you posted!
Thanks to all of you who helped bring this project to completion! It has been a trip and it has been worth it!
arty:Here's the finished product.
Thanks Again!
Harry
