In case anyone was wondering why I haven't updated the list on the workings of
the triple carb set up at altitude, I have a good excuse. I was involved in a
pretty severe rear end collision in one of my other cars. A kid hit me while
accelerating to about 30mph. I was stopped at a stoplight. This kid was
looking to pass and not looking straight ahead. Result was a square bumper to
bumper impact of two body on frame vehicles.
I saw him coming, took my hands off of the wheel and jammed on the brakes. (I
had been watching this guy in my rear view for about a mile. He was wildly
switching lanes and speeding up and slowing down. Bottom line, this guy was in
a hurry in heavy rush hour traffic and trying real hard to get somewhere fast
but only succeeded at going nowhere while driving very dangerously.) He
transfered all of his energy into my vehicle and stopped. I was sent 12 feet
with all four wheels leaving rubber on the pavement. Luckily I had stopped
with adequate distance between myself and the single car in front of me, plus
they rolled forward more after we both stopped. I did not hit the car in front
of me, though I came very close.
My vehicle actually looks okay, there is very little body damage. However, it
shifted the rear axle, jammed the driveshaft into the transfer case (yes it
was a four wheel drive), broke the transmission mounts, broke the engine
mounts, broke the battery retainer and forced the fan into the radiator. I
think that is all anyway.
The rest of the physics lesson happened to my back. Damaging my upper, middle
and lower back, my pelvis and one of my knees. The actual physics of what
happened to me would take a lot longer to explain so I'll save you guys the
trouble. Most of my time has been taken up by visits to the doctor,
chiropractor, massage therapist and physical therapist.
So this was all about two and a half months ago. I am just now getting back
into good enough condition to even work on the car. So here is the update. I
have new leaner needles in the car. Joe Curto helped me locate some. It was
still a complete guess but a very educated one on Joe's part. The comparison
between the two profiles looks very promising. Initial carb adjustment showed
that they were running lean. Screwed down the idle bleed screws and got the
carbs to the correct idle mixture. Next step is to check driveabilty and to
schedule a run on the chassis dyno at one of the local speed shops. Then I can
see the mixture results through the entire RPM range. I'll keep you all
informed.
Shawn J. Loseke
Fort Collins, CO
http://www.triumphowners.com/79
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