Captain Obvious

The new timing set will certainly help, but depending on how much the machinist took off your head, even with all new timing parts, you might still find the tensioner sticks out further than it should. I've got typical head gasket thickness measurements around here someplace (not handy right now), but I'm thinking your 1mm head gasket is about .020 thinner than stock? So if the machinist took even .010 off the head, you're at a total of .030 from stock. Even with a new timing set, I'm worried your tensioner will still be out more than it should be. Maybe enough to limp you home, but still something you would need to address. All of this is very fresh in my mind because I'm sitting here looking at my custom chain guide that I'm working on in order to bring my tensioner stickout back to acceptable range with my just completed .040 shaved head. The .015 shims will help a whole lot, but then you run the risk of having your contact patch on the lash pads or rockers in the wrong spots. That said... I'm no engine builder, but I would be more comfortable with running with an incorrect contact patch for 60 miles than I would for that tensioner sticking out that far for 60 miles. And as for the head gasket... Again, I'm no engine builder, but if you haven't run the engine at all, I'd be comfortable with leaving the head gasket in place if you were to pop cam tower shims in there. Follow the correct loosen and re-tighten sequence and procedure on the head bolts and I'd expect things to be OK. Which route to take kinda depends on how quickly you need to get that thing out of your buddy's way.

And I'm not comfortable with this. I don't think you should start the engine like that, let alone try to make it 60 miles. It's just too risky.

So you had the head cut and are using a custom head gasket that is thinner than stock. Both of those will contribute to the issue you are dealing with. What about the timing chain guides (not the valve guides)? Did you replace those with new or are they the same ones that were in the engine when you started? This is one of the guides I'm talking about:

Coincidentally, I've been messing around with the timing chain and tensioner stuff recently and with that in mind, I'm really wondering why your chain has so much slack in it. I've compared a brand new timing set with all new gears, chain, and guides to a used set that has run 150K miles. Of course there was a some difference, but even the 150K used set has way less slack than what you have in yours. Now, of course, yours could be worn and stretched more than the used set I have here, but I'm thinking there could be something else going on. As part of your rebuild process on the engine, did you have the head cut? Having material removed from the head can have a large impact on chain tension. Also, you said you did not replace the chain or the tensioner. So what did you replace? Did you replace the guides with new, or are the guides used as well? I'm thinking if you got the head cut and reused all the old parts, that's what is causing the issue.

Couple comments... As Granny suggested above, that tensioner is sticking out too far. I would not start the engine like that. About the three holes on the upper timing gear... those holes do not adjust the tension on the chain. They affect the cam timing with the respect to the crank location, but don't have any effect at all on chain tension. Moving from one hole to another won't do anything to fix this problem.

Wait. I did wash. I think?

Perfect. Then my work here is done.

I would be disappointed if there weren't. Congrats on moving forward. One step at a time!

The general consensus is that the beveled side of the rubber washers goes on the inboard side towards the control arm. Here's a thread that talks some about it: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/48661-spindle-pin-rubber-washers/ And about the rear outer control arm bushings... there has been some chatter in the past that they are slightly asymmetric and actually have a longer portion of metal tube sticking out on one end compared to the other. I don't know if you got yours all in the same way, (and I doubt it's worth the trouble to press them back out again and start over if you didn't) but here's some threads that talk about that: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/64195-rear-control-arm-bush-alignment/ https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55369-1971-hls30-14938-lily-build/?page=4

To add a little more detail to what Zed Head mentioned... The gas cap (original cap) has a "real" check valve built into it such that it will allow air INTO the gas tank in the even that the tank is drawn down to a vacuum, but it will not allow anything to escape. Now, I'm not really sure why they thought they needed to build a second valve into that little check valve device in the EVAP system. Seems like they only needed one way for air to get into the tank and that was handled by the gas cap. but there are actually two ways for air to get into the tank... Through the gas cap valve, or through the carbon can and then through that in-line check valve device. I wasn't there when they designed it. The reason it got more difficult to blow through (from the engine side) each time was because you were pressurizing the fuel tank a little with each blow. When the pressure got to the point where your lungs couldn't do any more, it stopped and held. The system is designed to hold some pressure, but not enough to damage the tank. In normal operation, the fuel tank will most likely be running under positive pressure as you drive the car. Goes like this... When you start the car with a cold tank, everything should be pretty much at equilibrium. The tank pressure should be right around atmospheric. Then as you drive, you will heat the fuel in the tank... Exhaust pipes close. Warm rear diff close. Gas recirculating up the the warm fuel rail and back again. All that stuff and the fuel heats up and expands causing the tank pressure to go up. If (when?) the tank pressure increases to the point where it will open up* the "check valve" device in the vapor line, it will burp into the carbon can. By operating that way. the check valve allows the system to run at a positive pressure, but not high enough to damage the fuel tank. * known in valve terminology as "cracking pressure". The check valve has an asymmetric cracking pressure design. Lower cracking pressure pointed towards the tank and a higher cracking pressure pointed towards the carbon can.

The "check valve" isn't a traditional check valve. The way it operates is that it passes flow both directions (unlike a "real" check valve), but the trick is that it passes flow much EASIER in one direction than the other. Here's some pics that help explain operation and location: Not sure why my pics are showing up sideways, but that's what I got.

Haha! I'll get right on that!

@grannyknot I added a step in the alignment procedure above. You should test to make sure the nozzle didn't squirm around as you tightened the lock nut.

The fresh air openings for the 77 and 78 bodies is under the cowl area. Previous years they piped air through the frame rails behind the headlights, but with the extensive metal redesign in 77 they moved the intake holes to under the cowl panel. Couple years ago I had my cowl panel off to work on my windshield wiper assemblies, and while it was off, I stuck my camera down there and took a couple pics. This should explain things:

The large washer looks like a generic electrical box knockout reducer bushing. Any chance you got some home electrical parts mixed in? The other washer with the four holes in it... It's so unique it should be an easy ID, but I'm not getting it. And except for the fact there are no captive washers on those bolts, they could go anywhere. The fact that they don't have any captive washers (lock or flat) makes them a little unusual. I don't think they are for carb bowl drains. Head is too thick, and I don't think you're working on that year anyway.

Haha! He needs to roll the windows up when he parks that thing!

Haha! I did the same thing. I just took a look for pics and all the good pics of the undersides have that stopper removed already. Here's the best I have. Pic is intended to show side detail, but you can see the stopper underneath: And this one is intended to show detail of the nozzle, but you can see that limit stopper in the background:

I believe those two disk parts are limit stops for the carb nozzle adjustment knob. Thread a nut onto them first and then thread that pair into the underside of the round tops after the nozzle has been installed? Prevents the accidental complete unscrewing of the adjustment knob. I think I have pics around here somewhere.

Most of the methods I've seen tossed about can get the nozzle "close", but aren't great. It's really difficult to discern when the needle is rubbing against the nozzle. I made a special tool (surprised?) to re-establish the alignment nub positioning on the 3-screw roundtops as well as the flat-tops, but it also works great for nozzle positioning on the 4-screw round tops. That said, since you have a lathe, I think you could get close enough with something simpler. Make yourself a short "alignment needle". Should really have a picture, but I'll try to use just words: Chuck up a piece of 4mm dia (or larger) brass in your lathe and turn a 20mm length down to .125" diameter. Make it so it just barely fits into the suction piston hole like the needle does. Close tolerance fit, but not a press fit. Then continue to turn down a 10mm length down to .100" so it just barely fits into the nozzle hole. Make sure you do both of those operations without taking the piece out of the chuck. That will ensure that the two different diameters are concentric. Then.... cut it off and debur any kicked up areas if necessary. You should have a 20mm long piece of brass that is .125" at one end and .100" at the other end. This is your stubby alignment needle. Install the alignment needle into the suction piston. Loosen (really loose) the nozzle alignment nut. Put the suction piston (with alignment stub installed) into the carb body making sure the stub goes correctly into the nozzle hole. Install the round top cover and tighten the screws. Tighten the nozzle nut. The nozzle should now be aligned with the center of the suction piston, but you can verify the alignment by lifting the suction piston and letting it back down gently. If the needle is properly aligned, it will re-enter the hole in the nozzle smoothly without catching on the side of the hole. If the stub needle doesn't enter smoothly, it's because the nozzle position shifted a little bit when you tightened the lock nut. Repeat the loosening and re-tightening of the nozzle lock nut as necessary until the stub needle enters the hole properly without catching on the side of the hole. * Take the cover off and pull out the piston. Remove the alignment stub and install the real needle in it's place. When you put everything back together, the nozzle should be aligned with the center of the suction piston. Does that make sense? * And this is one of the reasons the typical methods of aligning the nozzle using a normal needle fails. The tapered lead in of the normal needle will always enter the hole even if the nozzle is misaligned. It may rub against the needle near the hilt, but you may never notice a small amount of interference.

Haha!! No, not yet. But that doesn't necessarily keep me from doing something stupid, would it?

I made two. One for proof of concept, and a second one since the first turned out so well. Short story... I've got one available for sale if you're interested.

Those plugs cover over a passageway between the EGR passageway and into the individual runners. That "sand" you poured out is probably just years of decomposed aluminum and combustion byproducts and debris. If you removed one of the threaded plugs, you "should" see the hole up into the cylinder runner. And again, if you don't it's because it's all plugged with crap. It's there. How do I know all this? Because I did an EGR delete on a ZX intake manifold. It was not a simple job. Went like this: Step one was getting the plugs out. First one came out with no significant drama. Kinda like yours. Lulled me into a false sense of security. Just like yours. Next couple required torch heat and an impact to get them out: Next couple stripped out the hex (just like yours) and required emergency measures: But if you manage to get all the plugs out, you should be able to look down inside the holes and see the passageway into the runners. Here's an example. Note that I've labeled the hole as 8mm, but be aware that they changed that later in the run and made the holes further from the EGR larger, presumably to even out the amount of recirculated gasses between the cylinders: I drilled and tapped the holes and loctited a blug bolt into each of the holes. Then I sawed off the EGR section, milled it flat, and made a block off plate: Quite a bit of work, but turned out great, and since the sealing into the runners is done with bolts, that plate doesn't even really need to seal.

Yeah, I wouldn't have even suggested it since it's such overkill (and not "small and simple"), but it's just so cheap. So I'm assuming there are a bunch of different varieties, but the one I had here did one shot with variable pulse width. If yours has that mode, you should be good.

Really? All those pics, and not one obligatory shot with the headlights on? C'mon.

Does that female contact say "AMP" on it? That would be a raging clue.