Well, the manifolds came off a lot easier than I expected between using
a looooong box-end wrench and a racheting box-end on the inner nuts, but
it's getting even, now. When I first put everything back together, the
car wouldn't start at all -- good spark and fuel to the carb but dry
plugs. A little poking around with a feeler gauge, and I discovered a
pretty sizable gap at the bottom of the intake where it mates to the
head. Since the new manifold gasket from Spitbits fit none too well, I
pulled it off and reinstalled the old one, which was nicer and still in
good condition. That was when I first paid attention to the remains of
some Permatex Copper one of the DPOs had used to seal up the gasket to
the intake.
To make a long one a little shorter, I put the old gasket back dry and
still had a gap, so I got some Permatex Copper and tried it one more
time. Now, it will start with the choke on full, but it's running
*VERY* lean. So what do you guys think?
-Is this gap normal (.010in. +)? If not, what's the deal? I went
round robin tightening the nuts from the inside out, and the top has no
gap.
-Do you reckon I've stirred up a piece of trash in the carb bowl and
that's causing the current problem (I drained the bowl a couple of times
earlier and nothing came out).
-Does anyone want to come over and pull and reinstall the manifolds
for the fourth time (all the homebrew amber ale you can drink after
you've finished, and I'll drive you home)?
Geeze! I'm beginning to think I should have just hung a new muffler and
left well enough alone! BTW, thanks to the guys who responded to my
earlier post -- I'll be sending a personal response just as soon as I
get Malibu Barbie's Dream Car running or up on the tow truck, whichever
comes first.
-Schuyler
--
Schuyler E. Grace
schuyler@bellsouth.net
schuyler.grace@atl.frb.org
http://members.tripod.com/~schuyler/
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