Captain Obvious

Done!! Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I'm all over it!!

Hmmm... 38psi with the vacuum line pulled off the FPR sounds good. And 30 psi with that line connected is OK too. Are you able to see the fuel pressure gauge WHILE you are driving? I'm curious to see if the 38 drops significantly when there is more than just a "light idle" load on the engine. In other words... Your fuel system may be able to deliver enough fuel AT IDLE and still maintain 38 psi, but the trick is that it takes a really small amount of fuel to maintain idle. I'm thinking that maybe the system can idle fine at 38, but as soon as the fuel delivery requirements get higher (like when you are driving around), the system doesn't have enough compliance to maintain proper pressure under higher demand conditions. And that's a typical symptom of a restriction somewhere. Fuel filter, clogged check valve, something like that.

There is no real adjustability on the max amount that the nozzle drops. Sure, you could bend the #1 lever to potentially change it, but it will put things out of alignment and potentially bind. Maybe someone tweaked yours at some time in the past? You should be able rotate the choke actuation lever all the way to it's stop, and when you release it, the springs involved should be enough to pull the nozzle back up. It should come back up and "snap" against the bottom of the holder nut. I will measure the amount of nozzle drop on a carb here and we can compare notes.

Haha!! So we're gonna be rebuilding your engine in the parking lot at zcon!! I call dibs on working on the timing chain and stuff!

That turd has to get you both TO and BACK from zcon remember! Unless you're thinking that once you make it, you'll just stay there!

Now, the more complicated... The nozzles should not ever stick in the holder. If they are doing that, you need to figure out what is going on with that before you move forward. I've seen grit in the nozzle holes. Grit in the actuating mechanism. Burrs on stuff. Varnish on stuff. Plating too thick interfering with stuff that should rotate. Plating flaking off and becoming grit. Lack of lube where necessary. Incorrect needle alignment. Incorrect assembly of the little springs... But the point is, you need to make sure the nozzles return to full UP home when the choke cable isn't pushing them down. And can we work on the adjustment of the throttle plate opening amount when you get the rest of the stuff under control?

Let's start with the simple... That 0.5 mm (half turn of the knob) will not limit the amount of nozzle drop when you pull the choke lever. That 0.5 mm limit is simply an attempt by the factory to prevent you from adjusting your carb nozzles four or five turns down and driving around like that. It's an emissions stop limit so you don't accidentally (or on purpose) set your nozzle operation way too rich. The other easy question... When you pull the choke cable, there is nothing wrong with having a little dead space before the nozzle starts to drop. The last thing you want is for everything to be all cinched up tight and you're driving around with your choke on a little bit when you don't want it. Push the lever all the way "off". Tighten the set screws. You're done. As far as balancing the choke, I've never worried about that. Seems to work just fine even if they are a tiny bit difference between the two.

The fuel pressure on the outlet side of the pump should not be affected by the routing of that hose. Assuming, of course, you didn't kink anything. I wonder if maybe you've got air in that line which somehow can't get purged out because of the routing. Not sure if that's a thing, but maybe something to think about and look into?

Yeah, that's a good question. I've been wondering that myself.

Here's a pic I hoovered from the web some time ago. Not my car:

So in 0.2 degrees of rotational change, you're seeing about .001 in longitudinal change. I'm with you in that's nearly zero play. But... That is unloaded, right? nothing to compress the spring(s) in the tie rod ends? Nothing to smoosh the grease out of the rack and pinion gears? I don't think you'll see much, but you might see a little more than that if you would lock the rotation and push/pull the the rack back and forth with the rotation lever frozen. Just thinking out loud for theory's sake.

Is the fuel pressure still at 38 psi when you are cranking it after it has stalled? If so, it's not a fuel pump or tank issue. It would (should) be relatively easy to narrow it down to fuel or spark. Since it just shuts off, I'll rule out air and ignition timing. But it should be relatively easy to determine which of the other two is causing the issue. Next time it stalls and won't start, pull the center wire off the distributor cap (the one from the coil) and lay it close to the nuts on the strut mounting point. Slide the rubber boot up the wire a little bit to expose the metal contact inside. Then crank the engine and see if you have spark from the wire to the strut nut.

Where did you see the stream of fuel? Over by one of the carbs? If so, I'd pull the rubber hose off the return hardline near the fuel pump and see what comes out as you work the pump arm. Maybe the orifice is plugged with crud?

I've looked around for rebuild kits with very limited success. The only rebuild kits I've found that I think are correct are on ebay for big money. I've been working with another supplier on putting together a correct kit, but no luck so far.

So thinking about it a little (trying to add a little value to your original question), there is no way the factory taped every one of those hubcaps before they sprayed them. I'm guessing they had some sort of mask(s) they laid over the top before they applied the paint. Have you got a spare hubcap that you would be willing to cut apart to use as a mask? You could carefully cut away most of the metal and leave yourself seven masks. One for each of the triangle holes, and two large rings. Lay them on top of your unpainted hubcap and spray it. Take the metal masks off, and your're done. Not the easiest thing, but if you've got a rusty spare that you would be willing to destroy, it might be easier than taping four of them!

Oh. Got it, sorry!! You were talking about the "D" hubcaps, but you were talking about just the color, not the shape. Sorry for the diversion. Masking your flying saucer style is way more complicated.

Looks like a bullet hole to me. Is there a matching hole in the door panel?

Can you post a pic of your hubcaps after taping, but before paint? I must be missing some detail because I don't see the bits and strips of chrome you are working on. The original paint looks like a big "gangster whitewall" type of ring to me.

Those two gauges share the same ground connection, but so do a whole bunch of other things. I don't think that's going to be the issue. I'm having a hard time coming up with a common denominator failure between the fuel and temp gauges that would cause the symptoms you're experiencing. So if the accessory in the lighter doesn't yield any insights, then try this... Turn the key to ON and see what the gauges do. If the temp gauge stays at "cold", go out to the engine compartment, pull the single wire off the temperature sending unit (should be yellow/white) and connect that wire directly to engine ground. That should run the TEMP gauge all the way to HOT.

The little box on the back of the speedo does not contain the voltage regulator for the gauges. That box contains a "speed switch" that disables the throttle opener system below a certain speed (FSM says 13 mph). This is done with the help of a small set of contacts built into the speedometer that closes at low speed. Basically... They don't want the opener system to be actuated as you are coasting slowly to a stop. So the voltage regulators for each gauge are built into each gauge. In other words, the temp/oil gauge has it's own built in regulator, and the fuel gauge has a different regulator built into it. But getting to the root of your question.... If you lost both temp and fuel at the same time, it's probably something other than the regulators both failing at the same time. Are you sure you didn't lose temp and OIL (not fuel) at the same time?

Cool. The pump just couldn't seal air without oil in the rotors. Couldn't pull a vacuum to grab more oil. Glad you got it pumping now.

Well without a doubt, this guy is an order of magnitude more crazy than I am. I bow in honorable appreciation to the ridiculousness. The electro-etching of the number onto the head of the bolts and making your own nyloc style nuts. All I can say is "wow"!!

Hmmm... Should have picked up oil by now. Do you have the spark plugs out? It will spin a lot faster with a lot less load on the starter with the plugs out. Also, the positive displacement style oil pump probably doesn't do a great job pumping air, so I've always primed it before I put it on. Just pour oil into the pump before you stuff it up into place. Not full to the brim, but just enough that you can tilt the pump during install without the oil running over the sides and making a mess. I also pre-filled the oil filter a bunch. Lastly, I've got my oil prime rod that I can send, but I bet you could make something for a lot cheaper than the shipping.

And that's important for your cars too, not just your body.