High altitude update! The guys at Kaddie Shack shipped the new venturis and jets pronto. I finally had an afternoon last week to get the carbs off of the car and on to the bench. Then, having disassembled everything, I was less than impressed with the original gaskets, SO . . . . . I ordered replacements for those too (and had to wait a few more days for those to arrive).
Perfect timing!! My Mother-In-Law and my gasket kit arrived on the same day! She promptly suggested I disappear into a closet for a few days (I was sure that what she meant to say was ‘garage’) - and so I did!!!
I swapped the 28mm venturis for 32mm’s, replaced the main and idle jets, and nozzle above the float bowl (Jeff Lain says that theirs is improved over the factory original), and put it all back together with what appear to be much better quality gaskets.
With the carbs reinstalled in the car, moment of truth: the thing fired right up, and actually idled fairly well!! I let it warm up, checked, double checked, and triple checked for leaks, adjusted the mixture, blew my Mother-In-Law a kiss and went for a drive!
Wow! No more issues! It’s almost like driving a completely different car. Pulls very strong, no hesitation or flat spots!! Really runs and drives well, especially at full operating temperature, whether stop and go, light duty cruising, or at highway speeds. Apparently what I thought might be a ‘vapor lock’ or fuel boil issue turned out to be a ‘breathing’ issue. I am super excited to be able to get back to just enjoying my car! Thanks to everyone who offered input and advice!
Final note: a guy beside me at a stoplight rolled down his window, looked at my smooth running Speedy, then asked me why I had such a big smile on my face.
I answered, “Because my Mother-In-Law is in town”!!!!