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Car started, but....

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Sportsdoc

Jedi Trainee
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After discovering that the distributor cap and rotor were loose ( I figure I knocked it loose while routing the clutch line), the car started!!

However, a few problems arose. Fuel is spilling out of the front bowl seal. Talked to Joe Curto, probably is my high pressure aftermarket pump from the PO. Lower pressure SU on the way.

Also the idle speed is way too high, around 3000-3500. I did not change the idle screws on the carbs when I rebuilt them, and I did not loosen the clamping bracket on the distributor when I removed it and replaced in same position ( though not with the engine at TDC). I did not remove the drive, but did turn the engine over quite a bit adjusting valves, etc. Still it sounds like a timing issue to me being that high. Do I need to pull the distributor, turn the engine to TDC and then reinstall?

Any thoughts?
 
Sportsdoc said:
Also the idle speed is way too high, around 3000-3500. I did not change the idle screws on the carbs when I rebuilt them
Click to expand...

Are these SU carbs or other? If they are SUs, you have to go through a complete re-adjustment/re-tuning after rebuilding. In addition to the idle speed screws you have to worry about setting the needle(s) to get the mixture right.

As you go through the tune up procedure you may need to tweak the timing and idle speed settings (back and forth) to get everything to settle down to a smooth idle. For now, start with the basic carb adjustments.
 
These are the twin SU's. I have to get the fuel spillage fixed first before I can do much else. I'm hopeful an original low pressure pump will fix that problem. I looked at a regulator but that looked like too much of a pain to install.

Then maybe I can start the adjustments.
 
And did you re-set the mixture after rebuilding the carbs? There are some text book default needle adjustments you can make to get the car started. After it warms up you set things properly.

I hope the pump does address your problem. I assume that you've checked the float valves to make sure the float height is correctly set and that the float valves will close off during the float height setting procedure.
 
I did check the float valve height and installed new valve needles and seats. It is definitely running too rich and I did adjust the jets some tonight which improved it, but will have more time to properly adjust the carbs this weekend.
 
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