Mark Maras

Yeah, I could spend an hour or two pulling parts on that one.

As long as the studs are in place and the interior is clean, try more heat, Propane torch might be enough for sheet metal, oxy-acetylene would be quicker. If you get it hot enough, it will move.

Perfect. We're getting close.

Spotted something else. The X patterned tunnel and shock tower material looksto be reusable. I don't see any rips. I remember a few people who were trying to find the original covering.

Wrong. The fuel level should be around 1/16" below the little hole in the nozzle(nozzle top). The fuel should not puddle on top of the nozzle. The 1/16" fuel level below the nozzle top is so we can lower the nozzles to 3 or even 3 1/2 turns if we need to and the fuel won't be puddling on the nozzle tops. The 1/16" gives us room for fine tune adjustments.

Oliver is checking his stash to see if he can help.

A pic isn't going to be as good as you looking at your own nozzles at 2 1/2 turns. If you're not sure which part of the nozzle assembly we're talking about, pull the domes and pistons. Adjust the mixture screw all the way down (clockwise) while looking down into the carb from the top. You'll see the center part, with the hole in it, drop as you turn the mixture screw. I suggest that you keep adjusting the nozzles down until you see fuel pool on top of the nozzle. That should help show how high the float fuel level needs to be raised. Turn the mixture screws back to 2 1/2 turns down and keep adjusting the floats until the fuel level is 1/16" below the top of the nozzles. You're getting there. At this rate you'll beat Cliff. His floats took three months.

Yeah, inclined is what I remember. You can check the level at 3 1/2 turns but remember the level is supposed to be at 2 1/2 turns. If you're having trouble seeing the fuel level at 2 1/2 turns, pull the choke. That will pull the nozzles down and you will be able to see how low the fuel level is and hopefully, how far it has to come up.

Thanks

What's the name of Oliver's business in Marysville?

Being able to grab something with a handle made it much less tiring and allowed a better angle adjustment. If you try it, safety goggles are a must. The tiny paint chips fly off in a cloud.

How about castellated. Similar to wheel bearing nuts.

@Terrapin Z You might want to go back and get the radio and the face plate. It looks like the original AM FM unit. Oh yeah, the antenna too. I was in Puyallup last weekend. If I'd know that Z was close, I wouldn't have made it to my brother's party.

I found that a H.F. wood chisel worked great and was a lot easier to grip than a razor blade. Used it to remove the PO's flat black spray can paint job.

Jalex. We're "getting there". I'll bet you're starting to feel a sense of accomplishment. You may even have a stupid grin on your face that can't be erased. VOE. Soon you'll be giving your former mechanics a single digit salute as you drive by their shops, revving the engine to 5000 + RPMs. Keep up the good work.

Congratulations, we're getting close. Keep in mind the goal is NOT to get it to run well at 2 1/2 turns. The goal is to get the floats set to 2 1/2 turns THEN adjust the mixture screws to fine tune it. The float level at 2 1/2 turns down (clockwise) is the primary mixture adjustment. We've got to get the floats right before we can fine tune.

In and out, up and down are nozzle terms I'm used to but, I'm a man. I can change. If I have to. I guess.

Jalex. Glad to hear things are improving. Did you check the fuel level in the nozzles? The float level may be getting close. Is close good enough for you? Not for me when all it takes the removal of six screws to check both carbs but it's your call. If you're satisfied with the float level for now, go ahead and start adjusting the mixture screws. You're going to have to adjust the valves and possibly do a compression test when you're ready to address the problem in #4. Cliff, I've figured it out. Jalex's point of reference is from the top view. Visualizing the screw from that vantage point, the screw does turn clockwise to drop the nozzle. It really doesn't matter to me as long as we're all on the same page.

It's time to do it again. The problem with #4 cylinder could be low compression caused by a valve not closing all the way. Proper valve adjustment is one of the things that MUST be done before fine tuning the carbs.

No, unfortunately it's not normal.All cylinders should act the same if all things are equal. It may be a good idea to take another compression test. I would suggest readjusting the valves first. Have you ever done a compression test or adjusted the valves yourself? If not, do you want to try or take it to a mechanic. Neither task is terribly difficult. The compression test is very easy. Adjusting the valves is a bit more involved but not difficult.

Could idle speed be the problem? I think it may be contributing to the plugs loading up during a long idle. I want to get the carbs tuned to rule out that possibility. In my youth, when everyone was stuffing big cams into small block Chevys, one of the negatives was having to blip the throttle to clear the plugs when the idle started dropping. I didn't think Jalex's cam had enough duration or overlap to make it idle that rough but IF the idle is supposed to be up around 1200 rpms, it would indicate that it is a rough idling cam. @jalexquijano After the engine is warmed up, what is the RPMs at idle. A few historical questions. I believe you changed cams to try alleviate a problem earlier. What was the problem? Did the cam change help? Was there ever a time (even briefly) when the engine ran good or have there been problems since day one?

Who knows? At this point in time, all I know is, he's got an engine with supposedly good compression, rebuilt carbs from ZTherapy and it's never run worth a damn. It should be easy to eliminate the carbs from the running crappy scenario and move on to the next problem. Hopefully the running crappy will be in the past and the fuel and engine overheating issue can be looked at. I can't believe that Panama heat is the sole problem either. There are Z's running in Arizona and other hot areas that have beat the overheating problem. I must confess, I've have had kind of an uneasy feeling that Jalex would be better off with a stock engine due to the driving conditions in Panama. Used engines are still cheap and only take a few hours to install. That said, I'm not ready to tap out yet. We've got a way to go before a different engine is a possibility. Let's get back to the carbs and floats and cross those off the list.

The fuel level will reach the tops of the nozzles long before the float bowls overflow unless the needle valves are faulty. There's no reason to suspect that they're bad. To determine the readjusted fuel height in the float bowl and nozzles (the fuel level is the same in both of them) reassemble them, fire it up for a minute, shut it down and remove the domes and pistons. Check the fuel height in the hole in the nozzles at 2 1/2 turns down. Looking at your pic, I suspect that the float level is going to be too low but the only way to tell is by looking at the nozzles.

@jalexquijano I just thought of an easier method to determine the fuel height in the nozzles. If you can't see the fuel at 2 1/2 turns down, turn the mixture screws and lower the nozzles until fuel is visible at the top of the hole. That will tell you how much higher the fuel needs to be. Return the nozzles to 2 1/2 turns and readjust the float tabs.

You're absolutely right. Tight choke cables can pull the nozzles down. When adjusting my choke cables, I loosen the cable clamp screws, pull the choke lever back about 1/4" , manually push the nozzles up and tighten the cable screws. I do lose a bit a choke but this way I'm sure the nozzles always return to the top.