Hi again,
Thanks to everybody who had input on my carb problems! I think that I have
determined that the true cause of my problem is a slightly worn valve guide
on no.2 cylinder and a very worn guide on no.3 cyl. As you may recall I
had rebuilt the carb, tested for leaks, had the head done etc. When I had
the head job done by an automotive machine shop, I was told that everything
checked out and I should have no problems, consequently I ruled the head
out as a source of my problems. I have focused my attention on my carb and
ignition. My ignition works great now and I believe that my carb is
working ok as well. I had previously checked the vacuum readings with a
gauge and got a reading of approx. 22 with a rapid variation of about 2-3.
This is described in the vacuum gauge manual as the sign of a valve guide
leak, but since the head had just been done...I decided that this was not
the problem. Today I took the valve cover off and ran the engine and did
the carburetor cleaner check on the valves. On no.1 and no.4 nothing
happened when I sprayed the cleaner on the valves, no. 2 showed some
improvement in the idle, but no.3 cleared the miss completely for several
seconds. I feel that this is most likely my problem and in a week or four
am going to have new valve guides installed (by a different machine shop!)
and I'll let ya'll know then what the final results are. I guess the moral
of this story is believe what you see and don't take for granted that just
because something was repaired that the job was done right!
Glenn Trunnell
'79 Spitfire
|