Poor life choices - C4 content

Crackers wrote: In reply to Stampie: I'm thinking we should probably avoid each other without bail money. I know I have a metal bucket around here somewh....

So how bad was the Emergency Room bill?

Remind me, what is the past history of this analog fuel leak? (aka carb).

If it is anything like an SU carb, "Used" is code for "Used up".

QuasiMofo wrote: Pete, if the Holley frustrates you further I have an Edelbrock 1405 that was tuned to a 1991 L98 engine that could be had cheaply. The only downer is the 1405 is manual choke but the Edelbrock choke kit is quite easily installed.

Thanks John! This Holley is manual too, but a choke isn't really necessary down here from what I've discerned.

In reply to NOHOME:

Used, but completely cleaned and rebuilt.

Pete Gossett wrote: In reply to NOHOME: Used, but completely cleaned and rebuilt.

Thought so. I have about a 50% success ratio with the carbs I have rebuilt in the past. Holleys a long time ago and SU's more recently. Like I said, cores get "used up"

I am praying that the Fitech throttle body lives up to it's promise.

Pete It has to be something Simple,and if you were 300 miles closer I would have been there already, It really is as easy as 1...2...3 but it really is best if someone can stand there with you to watch the Tach and or Vacuum gage while the process is ongoing, can one of your buds (i remember Aero--- and someone else) were close. If we can get togeather on the Phone I will Talk you through but timing is key for me as for you. don't know what to say other than these are all just New user Problems,to me they are Old Hat to you they are Mind Melting, don't give up,you have learned too much to quit or use an eddy.

I try to make it a laughing matter but it isn't and I know that. you have to be able to Hear a 50 to 100 RPM change if there isn't some one to tell you, Idealy a tach you can see from the side of the carb,the timing light needs to be Connected, a vacuum gage needs to be installed, the float bowl plugs need to be out (till they get set)you need to know what 800 rpm sounds like then 750 then 700 you can change that faster with timing so the dist. needs to be changed as the Air needles are set and the idle speed at the same time, but it isn't that big a deal if someone show's you, as it is trying to Learn without help.Dude I wish I was there. when you see pics of someone breaking in an engine a 3000 rpm they arn't doing it with a just built carb so you are kinda having to do too much at once, does someone you know have a chevy 350 that is running that you can tune the carb on? likely not. right now getting the floats set so you can break in the cam if you can get it running at 3 grand then set the timing at about 30 degrees with the light and lock it down.work on vacuum and base timing and Idle after the cam has some time on it.

In reply to NOHOME: the carb I sent him had only a couple Hours run time on it but had been on My shelf for several years,hell it was in it's Original Box from Holley, we just put an Original Q-jet back on the 71 corvette to keep it Factory numbers for a restoration. still less than 10 yrs.

Well I had planned on trying to get it running tonight, but I went out to the garage and discovered the battery is completely dead. The brand new, higher CCA battery, that I just installed this weekend, and has been on the tender 24/7 since then. I'm shocked(pun intended) I could have that much of a current draw without any lights or motors on.

I tried jumping it from my jump pack I picked up last week, but I barely got a click from the relay. I know the van doesn't have enough amps to crank it from dead, so I'm pretty much stuck until my next trip back from IL with my starter/charger.

If you bought the battery from a chain store, maybe they can put a charge on it. I don't get over to where I keep my Vette, too often, so I always disconnect the battery. Something goofy with security and the light I can't figure out yet. GTX has the right idea, carbs are a learning curve. If not, go to ebay, Holley has factory refurbs for not a lot of dough.

Does your vette have an aftermarket alarm on it? The one on my Fox body Mustang went bad and became a parasitic drain on the battery. About a month ago I crawled under the dash and disconnected it. I can now leave the battery connected and let the car sit for 2-3 weeks at a time and she will start right up....something that certainly did not happen before. It might be something to look for.

As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, we were at Raceway Park with the Monte. The car ran decent, couldn't get the carb dialed in. Put an older rebuild on it and it runs like a bag of A$$. Alas the rains came and haven't left yet. (No garage, just a driveway.) I'll let you know how we make out. (Holley 4150 750) You can get these Holleys to run right, takes time. The original carb had a crack in the base plate, but still ran OK.

In reply to Mark93. No, it has the factory set up. Can't nail it down, but I assume that is what is giving me a problem with the blinking light. I HATE aftermarket alarm systems.

Oh Petey........ get one of those lever arm battery connectors/looks like a poster board cutter aka gilotine (finger removing tool)I do remember talking about chasing down a draw.

Disconnect your positive lead from the battery. Put a test light between it and the positive post. Light means current draw. Pull fuse by fuse until light goes out. That's the circuit with the draw. Harder if more than one circuit is causing it.

In reply to Stampie. I don't know if that was for me or Pete, but thanks. The Vette hood when up has lights. These may have to be disconnected. Electrical is not my thing, don't like it, that's why they call me Sparky.

I don't really think there's anything too far out on the carb. It ran really well for the 20-minutes it ran before running out of gas. I'd suspected maybe it had picked up some junk from the tank - although I'd cleaned it thoroughly, flushed the lines, and installed a new sock & filter - but the fact it has good pressure at the carb & there's fuel in the bowls seems to contradict that.

In reply to Stampie:

I'm not actually worried about finding the drain, I just wanted to get it running driving first to confirm what other problems may be lurking. No point chasing down an electrical problem if it won't shift into any other gears but 1st and reverse, or if I need to redo the suspension/steering/u-joints, etc.

I Hate it when you go Out of Town, 'nuthin to wake up to. Guess I'll just do yard work.

In reply to GTXVette:

I'm not out of town for another week, but with the car dead there's not much I can do. I may pick up a $30 battery charger at Harbor Freight today, rather than wait 2-weeks until I get back with my old one...

You need a lithium jump pack. I kind of want to send one to you so I have more stuff to read.

In reply to mazdeuce:

I looked at the HF one, but the lead-acid pack I picked up actually has more current.

I have it on the HF $30 charger I picked up this morning. It also has a 50 amp boost mode. I'm thinking that in parallel with my jump pack & a set of cables off our van damn well ought to give me enough current to get it to crank, or at least melt something while trying.

In reply to Pete Gossett:

Your determination is why i finally heard the challenge car cough to life today. Thank you for your inspiration.

OH SH..T DO NOT Charge it at 50 AMPS

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Awesome! And I'm glad my boneheaded stupidity resulted in something good.