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Reply to "Just bought a "barn-find" CMC kit"

Bad drama the day before my inspection....

I (remotely) went through the Florida DMV and they would only register my CMC as a 2020 "assembled from parts" vehicle. Fine. I got insurance from Hagerty along with a temporary license plate that allowed me to drive the fifty miles to the required DMV inspection for parts-cars. The afternoon before my appointment was the first time I was legal to test drive on real roads and open up my car. After about 10 minutes, the exhaust was smoking like Thunderbird Lead! My heart sank with thoughts of bad piston rings, cylinder damage and valve guide replacement. The inspection appointment was cancelled in despair.

The car restoration guys near my warehouse looked at the smoke and said it was a carb problem, and they were right. Apparently the fuel in my Weber 34 ICT carburetors boiled and I ended up running rich with a bunch of gas in my oil. I opened the carbs up and there was a crusty residue that looked like a bad bathtub ring. I cleaned them out and checked the float levels very carefully, but he car still smoked. I checked the valves and timing, but it was the oil change that stopped the smoke. 

I will now install insulation gaskets under the carbs if there is room, and check for overheating on my next test run. The oil temp gauge shows I'm fine, but it may not be accurate. Time will tell....

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