Hi:

First, great car!!! Now I have some questions. Are the secondaries opening on the carb? Also, how did the mechanic set the points? Did he use a feeler gauge or did he set dwell? This is important. If the dwell isn't properly set, it will cause poor performance. Let me know. It's most likely one or the other. If the carb is working correctly and the dwell isn't, timing / spark ill not burn the fuel properly. Let me know what you can find.

Joe

Answered by Jacobandnickolas (expert)
57,318 answers provided

Hi,

Thanks. Yes the secondaries do open manually for me. The mechanic set the points with a dwell meter to 30 degrees (spec is 28 to 32). I don't know what the timing is actually set to, but the spec is 4 degrees BTDC. Side question: if the car is regularly running on 95 to 99 octane (spec gravity 0.710 - 0.700), should the timing be advanced a little to account for the increase, or is the increase small enough not to affect the timing? What about the carburetor? Leaner? Richer? Could my response problem be due to improper balancing of the carb? Since I don't have a dwell meter, how can I check the balance and be sure it is at proper richness/leaness?

Thanks in advance.

Response from 73buick
4 questions asked

Hi Again:
The fuel should be fine. You could try to advance the timing, but if you go too far, it will cause starting and pinging problems for you. I wouldn't go much more than 6 degrees BTDC As far as the dwell, if it's at 30 degrees, that's perfect. The problem must lie with the carb. Are you seeing any black smoke from the ehaust. Do you know what the mechanic set the calibration point for transfer to the carburetors secondary fuel metering system?

Joe

Answered by Jacobandnickolas (expert)
57,318 answers provided

Hi,

I'm not seeing any black smoke from the exhaust or anything. I just know that when completely warmed to operating temperature, the car won't use the secondaries (it seems). I say this because when you plunge the pedal, nothing happens...literally. The car loses it's power (the engine does not rev, the car doesn't move any faster, nothing). However, if I take my foot off the gas and slowly depress it (NOT all the way) about 3/4 of the way, the car seems to have a boost. But it's still not like before the carb was rebuilt. (I think I got screwed).

Unfortunately, I don't know what the mechanic set the calibration point for transfer to the secondaries. How do you alter that? Also, how do I properly balance the carb and be sure of proper mixture without a gauge?

Response from 73buick
4 questions asked

Hi:
Based on your description of "when I slowly remove my foot from the gas, it..." it almost sounds like the fuel pump isn't providing enough fuel. Also, you may want to have the fuel pump volume and pressure checked.

As far as adjustment, I recommend you turn the air fuel screws in all the way, and back them each out 1 1/2 turns. Start there. Listen to the engine until it idles around 1K and is at it's smoothest.

Let me know if this helps.

Joe

Answered by Jacobandnickolas (expert)
57,318 answers provided

Today, I went out and bought a dwell meter just for the sake of ease. I'd like to re-tune. What order should I do the following things in?

Carburetor Balance
Timing
Dwell
RPMs

Also, I read that using the dwell meter you set the carburetor one side at a time to achieve the highest RPMs. What does that mean? How does the meter know when I switch sides? Do I keep the meter attached to the coil and the ground? Lastly, I was told that if I have to choose, verge on the side of rich rather than lean.

Response from 73buick
4 questions asked

Hi:
I think the person was talking about a tach and dwell meter. What you would be using is the tach, not the dwell. The dwell is for setting the points.

Yes, what they are refering to is correct. As you adjust the screws out (or in), the idle will increase to a point and then begin going the other way. When you hit the peak, stop and move to the other and do the same. This may require to reset your base idle, but that is easy.

Slightly on the rich would be my choice too. Let me know how it works for you.

Joe

Answered by Jacobandnickolas (expert)
57,318 answers provided

Hi,

According to the instructions of the car, I disconnected and plugged the distributor vac hose. Moved the screws inward (not enough to stall the engine just enough to make it sound really hollow and shaky). Next, I turned them outward (one-at-a-time). However, I didn't get a peak max. The tach leveled out, but after that the RPM didn't decrease even if I turned them out 2 or 3 more full turns, so I put them back to the spot where the max was originally achieved and repeated for the other side. The car seemed to do well on a test drive. But now, do I have any way of knowing if I'm on the lean or rich side? PS The base idle is on target with the car in drive (~700 RPM).

Thank you.

Response from 73buick
4 questions asked

Hi:

The easiest way to check for mixture concerns is to drive the car for several hundred miles and check the plugs. Lean mixture will show a creal clean plug. Too rich will be black. Also, you could have a shop check the exhaust with an emission machine to identify output.

Joe
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I lost a parent on Friday, and ended up in the hospt myself last night (sat.).

Answered by Jacobandnickolas (expert)
57,318 answers provided

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your bad news. I hope you're up and about again.

About the carb adjustment, any ideas on why mine did not peak and then decrease? It just leveled and stayed there no matter how much farther I turned out the screw. (Again, mine is Rochester 4bbl). I returned the screw to the point where it originally peaked and then started on the other side. It did the same thing. I had the distributor vac hose disconnected and plugged per Chilton Manual instructions. Do you think I still achieved a balanced carb with proper mixture? How would I know if the carb is NOT in proper balance?

Thanks again,
Jon

Response from 73buick
4 questions asked