Always do the simple stuff first!!!!!

[donsrods]

There is an old adage that says if you are troubleshooting a running issue you should always do the simple stuff first........I kinda forgot that tonight.

We've been busting hard on getting my Son Dans rpu ready for Billetproof in April. Last night we fired it up again and it ran great. We then built the throttle linkage and a couple of more things and tonight when we started it up it ran like crap! Popping through the headers, and fire coming out too.

We went back over all that we had changed and still no good, so we started thinking the worst. Did we wipe a cam lobe? Did we bend a pushrod? Is something going out in the distributor or coil? Etc, etc. We pulled the valve covers and the valves were all moving up and down like they should. We pulled the plugs and ran a compression test........180 across the board.

We called my Son Don and asked for some ideas, and he asked how the plugs looked. They were black, but the car runs a little rich, so nothing new there. He suggested we clean up the plugs and see what that would do, so I threw them in the blast cabinet and sandblasted them. Put them back in, and the car runs like a top!!!!!!!!!! [cl

I would have never thought that carboned up plugs could affect an engines running so much, especially since it ran great only yesterday. Needless to say, Dan and I will sleep a lot better tonight, knowing we don't have some serious problem with the motor. We already turned down the fuel pressure regulator to 4 psi tonight and tomorrow I'll pick up some new plugs too.

Hot rodding is SO much fun.


Don

 

[jfg455]

K.I.S.S Always remember it! even the pros get burned on the simple things![cl

 

[42chevy]

I fix copiers for a living and 99 percent is simple stuff. It is the other 1 percent that gets you. I am glad you got it sorted, and K.I.S.S is always a good place to start.

 

[fuzz]

I just bought an S10 for the frame from a guy that got frustrated because he spent alot of time and money tryin to get it running but gave up. For safety the first thing I pulled was the gas tank, it had about 2 gallons of water in it. ..somtimes it's easy to overlook the obvious.
Have fun at Bilitproof...

 

[4t64rd]

Don, is it coming up this year?

 

[donsrods]

Don, is it coming up this year?

Well, I hate to make predictions because we have missed so many years when I have said it was going to make it, but I really, really think we have a shot at this one. We are down to the following items that need to be finished up so it will be able to move under it's own power.

1) Drag link needs installed from steering box to steering arm. (UPS is delivering that today)

2) Rear shocks need installed. (same as above)

3) Center section needs reinstalled in the rear end. It is a brand new unit that had a drip right out of the box. We shipped it back to the guy in Pa who built it and it should be back here early next week.

4) Driveshaft needs installed. (It is sitting there, ready to go in)

5) Speedometer sensor needs installed and hooked up to speedometer.

6) Brake hoses need installed and brakes bled. (Dan ordered the lines and they are supposed to be shipped out the door Thursday, so we should have them next week)

7) Passenger seat and carpeting needs installed. (4 bolts on seat and the carpeting just snaps in)

8) Grille shell and cowl vent door need painted. (we have the paint already, just need to take the time to do them. We are saving the cosmetic stuff for the end because we want to get the mechanicals out of the way first)

9) Nerf bars need bolted on. (Don't have time to get them to the chromer, but Dan needs them on, even in raw steel, because his license plate goes on the rear one)

So, that is about it. All very do able, I think. We have 22 days before we have to leave for BP.

Don

 

[Got Rust?]

just finished installing a rebuild carb, and a lot of diognostic work, only to find that my "cleaned" plugs were not firing well enough. I was slow to reply cuz I'm embarased, but oh well now new plugs will be on the "short list" of things to check. I feel your pain.

 

[donsrods]

Yeah, I think what happens is that we panic and assume the worst. So we start tearing into things only to find out it is something very minor. I'm not great at diagnosing mechanical problems anyways. I am more of a car builder than a true mechanic. I worked with some good technicians at the marina's I've worked at and found the one common denominator is that all of the good ones knew how to diagnose what was causing a problem. The not so good ones keep replacing parts until they finally hit what was wrong.

On a side note, UPS just dropped off the drag link and other stuff, and I was shocked to see the drag link is raw stainless, not polished. I called them and they are airfreighting out a chrome one today and will take back this one. It said nothing in the catalog about not being polished, and all the ones we have bought in the past from SoCal and Pete and Jakes were polished stainless. At least Speedway stepped up and is paying for the airfreight to get us the new one by the weekend.

Don

 

[Rat'l Trap]

I had an outboard act up on me last summer, like you, all of a sudden. I fiddled with a few things, even pulled the plugs which looked fine. The plugs are the kind without a bent electrode--just the center electrode, and it is flat and sorta wide. Anyway, with no gap, I cleaned it and put it back in. No change in how it ran. I called the local marine parts store and the guy said I should replace the plugs, so against my better judgement, I did. It worked like a champ. [S The "old" ones were about 12 yrs old, but probably didnt have 20 hrs on them total. Anyway, watch out for the plugs!

 

[Tripper]

always do the simple stuff first.

NOW you tell me!!!

BoB

 

[sgtpontiac]

Wonder why it is?

Why is it that you always overlook the obvious and figure it has to be worst?..... We've all done it and after the fact we kick ourselves in the butt for not going the easy route from the beginning...... at least we usually resolve the issue....(before spending too much money or time)

 

[kc0kfg]

Why is it that you always overlook the obvious and figure it has to be worst?..... We've all done it and after the fact we kick ourselves in the butt for not going the easy route from the beginning...... at least we usually resolve the issue....(before spending too much money or time)

Not trying to Hijack but had to add mine when I was 17 402 BBC in my camaro, smoked out just one pipe, heavy black fuel rich smoke, pulled carb, intake and drivers side head thinking it was a gasket of course when it was all back together it still did it turned out carb was flooding just one bank changed carb all was good.

454 chev truck using a t350 trans started with white smoke just out the passengers side exhaust chased my tail for a week, then a buddy at my parts store had me check the trans modulator, there it was the vacume lone was full of oil and of course its fed from the runner that is closest to number seven cylinder.

But they are a great lesson of what to look for in the future

 

[sgtpontiac]

I feel your pain....

Not trying to Hijack but had to add mine when I was 17 402 BBC in my camaro, smoked out just one pipe, heavy black fuel rich smoke, pulled carb, intake and drivers side head thinking it was a gasket of course when it was all back together it still did it turned out carb was flooding just one bank changed carb all was good.

454 chev truck using a t350 trans started with white smoke just out the passengers side exhaust chased my tail for a week, then a buddy at my parts store had me check the trans modulator, there it was the vacume lone was full of oil and of course its fed from the runner that is closest to number seven cylinder.

But they are a great lesson of what to look for in the future

Having been a GM tech for many years, the modulator leaks were not a common problem like they were on Fords..... not biased just fact... but when they went bad it usually would suck a crap load of fluid into the motor and honestly most people didn't notice it until the trans started to slip.....

 

[skull]

rotor

done a 9 hour shift/played till 1 am then tryed to do a tune-up, put in all new stuff, no spark, darn, 2 hours of trying to figure it out, 4 am give up and go to bed. next day find the rotor sitting on the bench, put it in and, wallllaaa, spark and runs like a champ.[dr

Later

 

[sgtpontiac]

Used to be able to work on this stuff all night

done a 9 hour shift/played till 1 am then tryed to do a tune-up, put in all new stuff, no spark, darn, 2 hours of trying to figure it out, 4 am give up and go to bed. next day find the rotor sitting on the bench, put it in and, wallllaaa, spark and runs like a champ.[dr

Later

Now i have to take a break or go inside..... when I start forgetting where a tool is or what I was doing.....LOL..

 

[Unkl Ian]

MANY years ago, I get a call "my truck won't start".
So I ask the obvious question "what did you do to it ?"

"**** helped me do a tune up, and now it won't start.
We changed points, condenser, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, etc.
Turns over fine, but won't start."

Of course the self declared hot shot "mechanic"
didn't stick around to fix his mistake. [ddd

Knowing that **** prides himself on setting points by eye
I arrive with only my feeler gauges, and Dwell meter.

Dwell meter reads zero,
I've never had that happen before.[S
Very strange.

Pull the cap, points gap looks pretty close.
Feeler gauge says they are within .002" of spec,
which is really pretty good until you realize he set
the gap on the bottom of the points cam, not the top.

So the points never closed.

Set the gap correctly, and it fired right up.[cl

Always remember the basics.
And never rely on self declared geniuses.

 

[sgtpontiac]

feels good....

makes you feel pretty good when you can jump in and help someone sort out and issue..... not so much brag as fact and gives your self confidence a booster shot......

 

[Unkl Ian]

makes you feel pretty good when you can jump in and help someone sort out an issue.....

On one hand, I hear what you are saying.

On the other hand, I got burned more than once,
before I finally learned my lesson.
Some people should not be allowed to use tools.