AL & lfepardo......There wasn't anything wrong with my engine except for a "clank" at idle (which I isolated to the alt/fan by removing the fan belt) and really shitty idle and low speed popping thru the weber carbs, backfiring as well. All are just IRRITATING when your just cruising and trying to look cool ! SO......I pulled my engine out, put it on the stand and attempted to correct a few things and change some as well. I might add that I bought a MAXJAX car lift and have been installing that in between working on my engine so when I go to re-install the engine I will have a really cush job of doing that.
The first thing I did was remove and throw in the trash, the hex-bar throttle linkage. This is after screwing around with it for two years and even fabricating a way to adjust the right and left sections of the hex bar to be individually adjustable for exact carb synchronization. That failed and made things worse. because of my "slamming the accelerator pedal" too enthusiastically, it wouldn't stay in sync. So, out that went! I switched to a Vintage Speed ball-bearing bell crank system. Doing this created a problem with mounting it because of the serpentine belt drive for the alternator. The idler bracket interfered so that meant installing longer studs, a couple bushings and putting the hold-down nuts supplied withe the serpentine system on my lathe and cutting a longer alignment shoulder on the back one. That done...now the bell-crank has a level mounting surface. Next was replacing the 36hp heater type fan shroud with one that's not for heaters. Plus the two holes I drilled in the old one to get the wires out from the two temp. senders I had fabricated into the oil cooler adapter last year to check the in/out temps of the stock oil cooler. I also changed out that modified oil cooler adapter for a stock one with no mod's. I also adjusted all the valves to zero clearance, changed the oil and plugs and moved the ignition wire loom up above the fan shroud. ( To allow room down there for the new throttle linkage.)By the way...The stock wires will reach quite nicely in this position ! Changed out the rear tin apron for one with no holes for heater hoses and drilled a hole for the oil temp wire to go through to my favorite pick-up location (with a grommet of course) .
Now off to Chico's Performance for a little dyno time. I highly recommend this to anyone to do this. Yes...It costs a couple hundred bucks but it's well worth it and you can find pretty much anything good....or....bad that's going on with your engine......not unlike going to the hospital and getting your own diagnostics done.
So there you have it so far. I gotta go to a late dinner with some close friends so I will post the dyno results n stuff tomorrow. I hope this info is useful to some of you out there...........information is power..............Bruce
