Gary in NJ

Sounds like it was a stuck grosse valve. Good thing you caught and repaired that. That can be a fire hazard.

If your rear carb is fouling plugs, it's because your float height needs to be adjusted. It has little to due with the number of screws in the dome.

I'm resurrecting and old one here... I did a search last night on interior rivets and came across this thread. Gary, I liked your idea and decided to take a trip to the local Ace Hardware store. I had many parts in my hand, but left with these: The part on the top left is a #10 x 1 Trim Fastener. Below that is an o-ring and below that is a #8-10 drywall anchor (that happens to match my paint ) I used the o-ring to go between the fastener washer and the plastic, this way the washer wont cut through the plastic. Works like a charm. Thanks for the great tip Gary.

Indeed. To be clear, I'm not saying Bars doesn't work, it does. My only concern is creating a blockage where there wasn't. I have no experience with this happening, it is just a concern.

I'm kind of in this camp as well. What scares me about Bars and other sealant products are; what else are they sealing? I'm sure that the sealant doesn't only cling to the leaking problem, so by using these products you may fix one problem, but may create another.

Nice and straight. It's gonna be a stunner.

WiZeguy, Maybe. When I got this car it had so many issues; from the airpods, tight valves, misadjusted carbs, poor ignition - it's tough to tell what had the most impact. But if we were sitting around having a beer, I would suggest that the air horns on the stock airbox would provide superior airflow at lower speeds as the air horns help to accelerate the air (venturi effect via Mr. Bernulli). Since I spend 90% of the time between idle and 4000 rpm, that type of performance is what is most important. The pods might have an advantage at 5000 - 7000 rpms.

To the OP, glad you got it worked out. To epsark, 12-hour shifts makes you wanna type I guess The SU floats are solid. They should last a lifetime and a half - unless you use carb cleaner on them - then they swell. Setting/checking the floats should be an annual procedure. Reading your post it sounded like you had a high float, until you mentioned plugging one vent transferred the overflow to the other carb. Yes, you might have too much pressure on the fuel line - or the return is clogged.

Tough to say without seeing it. In the NE, rough cars fetch $3,000.

With the cover upside down and level (I hold mine in a vice on the inlet boss), measure 9/16" (or 14mm) from the underside of the cover to the top of the float. Make sure that the top of the float is parallel with the cover. Bend it into position if it's not. When taking the measurement, the valve should be closed (pin inserted) otherwise the mixture will be too lean. You'll need to replace the float gaskets. While you have the floats off, might as well remove the piston housing and give 'em a good cleaning.

They do look similar. Mine is now dry as a bone. The loose cover bolts were in fact my issue. I took the car out for a 1/2 hour ride last night. I looked under the car this morning - nice and dry. I got lucky (this time). Changing the front cover gasket is a royal pain. Actually, changing the gasket and sealing it (both sides) is easy - it's getting to that point that sucks.

You may not need to. The point I was making was without a known float height, the number of turns out on the knobs doesn't provide much information. A little backfiring under deceleration is usually the result a lean mixture. Go back and resync the carbs. Since you don't know your float height, don't bother with the chart in the FSM. Just adjust them for maximum rpm. After you have done that, resync/balance them.

Assuming that the engine was fully warmed up when you did your carb sync, time of day from one day to another shouldn't make that much difference (from "great" to "bad behavior"). Seasonal changes would make a difference. Was the backfiring under load or deceleration? It sounds like you may have the mixture set too lean. Before you started the sync, did you set your float heights (14mm from the top of the cover) or confirm that they were correct? The number of turns out on the nozzle adjustment is meaningless without he float height baseline.

Yokohama AVS ES700, P225/50VR-15. They're a little shorter then stock (23-7/8 v 24-3/4) resulting in a lower car and slight (4%) speedometer error. If you don't want the car lowered, 16 inch rims would be the correct size with 225/50's.

Not only does it look correct, it works correctly. I'm ready to frequent the local car shows now.

I fixed an oil leak on the front cover, so I took the opportunity to clean the engine compartment. This is not a show-quality job, but it's a major improvement to the picture above (the day I received the car)

Hmm, even with the damage history and the poor repairs, that car is worth a lot more then $1,000 - especially here on the east coast. The car looks ok to me. Let me ask you a few questions: 1. Does the twist render the car undrivable? Does it have spooky handling? 2. Are all of the body panels aligned well? 3. Is this a daily driver for you? The reason I ask these questions; if the car can be driven, and you don't have to rely on it - then why not drive (enjoy) it until the right offer finds you. Somebody, some where, wants your car. They'd love to restore it. These cars are rare, don't hack it up because its not your dream car.

I cleaned the engine and engine bay this evening. I then started and ran the engine until the temperature started to rise above normal (with the alternator/fan belt removed the fan & water pump were inoperative). After 15 minutes of running the engine was free on any oil leaks. I reinstalled the alternator bracket and alternator and took the car for a short test drive. I parked it in my VERY clean garage and will take a look tomorrow for any oil on the floor. I changed the oil before parking it so I can determine if any oil on the floor is fresh or just residual.

The oil is collecting where the alternator bracket attaches to the block. So I removed the alternator and the bracket. Just to be sure it wasn't the oil pump I put a torque wrench on the four bolts and checked them at 13 ft/lbs (the spec is 11 to 15). I got a click on all of them. The timing cover was a different story. I started checking the bolts that weren't suspected of leaking and found they could all use about a 1/4 turn. The one just above the wet zone took a full two turns. The one just below took almost a full turn. Bingo. I haven't checked it out yet as I'm going to take Mike's advice and clean the engine tomorrow after work. But two full turns? I think (hope) we have a winner.

The good news is my front seal isn't leaking. The bad news is I haven't identified what is. I have a leak that is in the vicinity of the oil pump, but I can't tell if the leak is coming from the top of the oil pump, the timing chain cover or the section of the oil pan that is right in that area. The pooling seems to be most significant under/near the alternator mount. I've cleaned up the area with a rag and I'm letting it seep for an hour or two. I'll try to get some photos later. In the mean time, any suggestions?

Nice write-up rv6a. That's a very logical procedure.

You're in the right ballpark by looking at the ignition timing, but I would look at the entire timing chain-of-events; from the cam back to the distributor. If you have a non-starter, you need to confirm that the engine is timed correctly and that the distributor is installed correctly.

The '72 FSM shows the set-up I have (Figure ET-4) and describes it correctly. This is the same set-up that I had on my '71. However, in the same FSM Figure EC-47 shows the timing marks you describe. I can only guess that both systems were used in that year. I think the scale on the timing cover, with the single mark on the HB, is easier to read.

I haven't heard that description before, that's a good one. Congratulations on bringing home an actual working car. Pictures, pictures and more pictures - please.

Here's one of those cases where it shows we are a common people separated by a similar language. In America, a "torch" is something that throws a flame. In the rest of the world, a torch is what we call a "flash light".