RPU, bodywork underway.

[donsrods]

You are right, it was almost surreal to actually drive it for the first time yesterday. I think Dan was as happy as I am because as soon as this car is done he can get back onto his own project, a VW bug that he is building.

This morning I woke up about 4 am and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got dressed and went to the shop. I figured it would be cooler than during the day, but I was WRONG ! It was still hot, maybe just not as hot as mid day. Can't wait for November to come so it will finally cool off a little.

What I wanted to work on was the engine and the way it is not still running right. It has to be carburation because it is running rich and has poor throttle response. So, I tore all three carbs off of the engine and found a few things that might be causing the problems.

First thing I found was that the center carb is the only one that still has a choke plate left in it, and it was just flopping around. I could close it with my fingers, so I am sure it was sucking shut under acceleration too. The next thing I found was that the rear carb was soaked with gas. I have been blaming the front carb, but a ton of gas poured out of the rear carb when I removed it.

So, to narrow it all down, I made two block off plates out of 1/8 inch aluminum , in the shape of the carb bases and I sandwiched those between the bottom base gasket and the carb base gasket so that, for all practical purposes, the carbs on the end are just dummies. I am not going to hook up any fuel lines to those two carbs as a test to see how the car runs on just the center carb.

I figure process of elimination is the best way to narrow down what is going on. It has to be the carbs because every part on the engine is brand new, and the carbs were rebuilt by me a few years ago using tripower bases from Speedway. If the engine runs well on just the center carb I will leave it that way for a while and then gradually put the two end carbs back into service, maybe one at a time so that I can watch if anything changes when I do that.

 

[kenny c]

Congrats on the first drive.[cl[cl[cl You will get the bugs worked out.

 

[MercuryMac]

That first drive is a big step ----- congratulations.
I'm watching your build for two reasons; one, I like watching fussy guys work, and two, I'm having trouble sorting out problems with three deuces also. You may solve my dilemma for me. Thank you.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Dan did a little video recording on his phone as we drove it the first time, and I am going to have to see how to download that into something I can post here.

YouTube!!! (Please )

.

 

[donsrods]

Thanks, guys. The older I get the less fussy I am............well, at least unless if you talk to my ex wife ! lol

Mac, in a lot of respects I wish I had not gone with this tripower setup. I have always used two Edelbrock four barrels and you bolt those darn things on and forget them, they are as simple and bulletproof as they come. But my sons bought me this Edelbrock tripower manifold for a gift a while back, so I was kinda committed to using it.

I bought the kit from Speedway that comes with all new bases, one for the center carb and two for the end carbs, and I bought some used Rochester 2GC carbs on Ebay and picked out the 3 best ones, rebuilt them, and thought I was good to go, but evidently there is something not exactly right with them.

What is odd is that on my old 23 with a sbc, I had a four barrel intake and added one of those Y adapters with two Rochester 2 barrel carbs on it, and the thing bolted on and ran like a clock right out of the box. But I guess they knew what they were doing when rebuilding those carbs, and I evidently do not.

I picked up one more gasket I needed today locally, so I can finish up and try to start it to see how it runs now with the two end ones blocked off. Then I ordered 6 gaskets from Rock Auto so that I have some on hand so I can keep pulling the carbs off and playing with them until I get this all figured out. I think the smoking gun was how soaked that rear carb was, gas just poured out of it when I removed it, a lot of that gas down the throat. Last night it was running so rich my eyes were burning during the test drive.

I will keep posting what I find as I go, and there might be something in there that you will find will help your situation out too. Aren't cars FUN !!!!!!

 

[bob w]

Don, A while back my dearly departed friend Leo gave me a new 3 Two manifold and the same Speedway parts you mentioned. It sat around quite a while. I, in turn gave it to a friend that had the patience to mess with it. To me, they are all about looks, not performance.

I just watched a carb video. There are only three possibilities; float level way too high, a problem with the needle and seat, or a sinking float. I'll be interested to find out what it is. You have already reduced fuel pressure.

 

[donsrods]

Bob, sorry about the loss of your good friend. I feel somewhat about the same regarding the carb conversion kit. It looked great, but I am not 100% sold on how it will perform in the end.

My son Dan had an original 66 Olds 442 tripower setup on his RPU for a while and he never could quite get it to perform correctly, so he pulled it off, gave it to his brother, and put a two four setup on with Edelbrock carbs. As I mentioned earlier, right out of the box they ran like they should.

You are right about the 3 possibilities, and I am going to nail down exactly what is what here as I keep testing. The car should run great on a single two barrel, and if it does I will move on from there.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

I hope you get it sorted out and keep it that way.

You need my departed friend, Charlie. He had a tripower '65 GTO and it ran hard. Other guys would bring their triples to him, so he had them figured out!

.

 

[Bamamav]

Those 2GC carbs are pretty simple and work great. I had one on the 350 in my Lincoln, it ran even full of junk. Put a kit in it and it worked great. Like most Rochester carbs, the weak point is the fuel inlet is easily stripped if you get too rough with it.

I’d say the loose choke plate is causing the flooding on that carb. That little E clip can be a bugger to get on!

 

[MercuryMac]

There's a fourth gas guzzler that I experienced. This is on Holley 94s or Ford look-a-likes. Those carbs have to be level front to back, and I had my motor slanted at 6* so the fuel level in the bowl was too high at the back where it siphoned into the throat all of the time.
I only wanted three deuces for the looks not the performance, but I want it to run nicely.

 

[donsrods]

Tonight after dinner I decided to go to the shop and finish putting the last carb on the engine. When I got that done I ran a fuel line to only that carb and fired it up. At first it ran a little rough, but as it warmed up it ran much better, especially after I played with the two adjustment screws on the front of that carb, and also advanced the timing a little.

I took it out in the parking lot and it has a pretty bad bog off the line. Maybe I set the float level too low, or maybe I have the fuel pressure regulator set too low. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a fitting I need to plumb the fuel pressure gauge I have into the system to see what it shows.

I guess I was overly optimistic, thinking that a brand new crate motor, with mostly brand new parts, would run great right from the git go.

 

[Torchie]

Hang in there Don.
The multiple carb thing always looks great but getting them Dialed in can take some doing.
Congrats on the first ride as well. Always a big mile stone in any build.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Old Iron]

I understand you set three deuce carbs on vacuum to get the correct settings.

 

[donsrods]

Torchie, I have decided to just take it easy on this thing for a while, I have no deadline, and it isn't like I don't still have my 27. It looks like the Daytona Turkey Run will not be happening this November due to the virus, but we would probably not go anyway just to be safe, so there is no reason to rush to get this car running right.

Old Iron, I do remember a vacuum sorta deal that you would set on top of carbs to read their individual vacuum, but now that I have blocked off the two end carbs completely, I should only have to concentrate on that one center carb. My thoughts are that I need to take to top of it back off and check how high the gas is in the bowl. I may have over reacted and lowered it too much, and I also need to put my fuel pressure gauge in the system to see if I cranked down the fuel pressure way too low too. It seems to me that the accelerator pump is just not shooting a good stream of gas into the intake, it sort of just dribbles, from what I could see.

Also, maybe I need to step back a little and work on some other things like getting the brakes dialed in and also to help Dan finish up the bed and get the doors installed on the car. Hopefully, the upholstery guy will have my seat done this week so I can check that off my list. If I do anything today I think I will paint the door hinges and let those dry, and maybe clean up the mess in the shop . I have had it with carburetors for a while !

 

[kenny c]

Take a day or two off. The answers will come . We all know you will figure it out.

 

[Torchie]

Don.
Back in my British sports car days I used to mess with multiple carbs. I used a length of rubber hose and a nipple adjuster wrench.( Not a peep out of you, DR Crank.) I adjusted them by pitch.
There is a device sold that sits on top of the carb that give you a vacuum reading. But I've never used one.
Its nice not to be in a rush when building. Take your time and enjoy it.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Don.
Back in my British sports car days I used to mess with multiple carbs. I used a length of rubber hose and a nipple adjuster wrench.( Not a peep out of you, DR Crank.) I adjusted them by pitch.
There is a device sold that sits on top of the carb that give you a vacuum reading. But I've never used one.
Its nice not to be in a rush when building. Take your time and enjoy it.
[P [P [P
Torchie

What did I do?



I have used a (borrowed) device called a synchronizer, which simply reads vacuum for each carb, independently together.

.

 

[donsrods]

I may get to the point where I will use one of those to syncronize all three carbs, but for now I am just going to get it running on one carb and then go from there.

Today Dan was going to come to the shop after work and do some things on the bed, so I got there a few hours earlier and worked on the engine a little. First, I installed a gauge on the fuel pressure regulator, and then I took the top off of the center carb to see how the fuel level looked. Before I took the top off, I moved the throttle arm and got no gas shooting out of the two jets on the inside of the carburetor. The accelerator pump was doing nothing.

So, I raised the float level and put the top back on and immediately got a good shot of gas coming when I pumped the gas pedal. I started the car, advanced the timing a little, and it sounded so much better. When Dan got there we jumped in and took it around the block and it really did not run bad at all. Still just a tad of a hesitation, but I can raise the float level a little more and see what that does.

I adjusted the fuel pressure regulator to 3 psi, and it seemed to like it there. For now I am happy with it running better than it had, and I will continue to play with it to get the carb and timing set better. I also had fuel dumping out of the fuel tank vent when I did a little burn out in the parking lot, so I am going to have to figure out how to put a check valve in that line to keep that from happening.

And, Dan got a few more braces welded into the bed frame, and I ran to Home Depot and picked up three hinges that he can weld onto the tonneau cover to allow it to raise up. So, overall we got a few things out of the way tonight.

 

[kenny c]

Sounds like you're gaining on it. For the fuel tank issue. large diesel trucks have a check valve in the top of the tank that is just a check ball that will stop fuel from leaking out in the event of a roll over. Maybe something like that would work.

 

[Old Iron]

Tanks Inc. remote roll over valve
Summit Racing
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MI5qyf587K6wIVTNbACh3jKwIWEAQYASABEgIx-vD_BwE