03-28-2021, 08:34 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-28-2021, 08:43 PM by Terry Bentley.)
Chapter 74
Once again the big day rolls around. It is early Friday morning and there is no way I can sleep in. Out to the garage, I go over everything that was planned for today. Checking my list of things to test, I collect everything together and have a box full of parts ready to load up in the Ranchero when Steve gets here around lunch time.
Except for fixing the front end on my kart, neither of the karts have actually been worked on for the last couple of weeks. But it still makes good sense to go over everything really well. Check tire pressures and adjust the chains. Look over the tierods, wheel and axle bearings, and make sure the steering doesnt have any slop or issues. It would also be smart to put in some fresh gas and fire both the engines up. Nothing has changed since the last trip to the track. We should be good to go today.
So I just wait for Steve to get done working and then we can head out to the track. Looking on the wall at a clock, I see it is just now ten minutes past nine o'clock. Geez, you have got to be kidding. I have everything ready to go right now, and still three more hours waiting. OK, what can I do to pass the time? This is going to be an eternity.
While sitting here, I am thinking seriously about going ahead and changing out the intake manifold on my engine. This way I can use Steve as a reference to base how well the engines ran the last time out. OK that makes some sense. As my fingers were backing off those nuts holding the carburetor, I just stopped cold and froze for a moment.
This is when I realized my engine still had that completely stock intake manifold on the engine. I never swapped it back over. Both of our engines had modified manfolds. The reed opening had been enlarged a lot. More than enough to make a big difference with the HL-15 carburetor. Wow, that could have cost some down time at the track. Glad I caught it before we loaded up today. But should I go ahead and put the Palmini on or go back to the modified manifold for now?
Yes, go ahead and change it out now with the Palmini like I had decided. Both of the engines were running almost identical before this completely stock manifold was put on to try out. I could go back to square one and wait until we have everything running the same as before at the track. No, I have confirmed what doesnt work, so the Palmini manifold will get put on the engine this time.
When we arrive at the track, the first thing to do is get Steve back running comfortably. I will follow him around and make sure he is right there up to speed. This will also give me an idea if the Palmini manifold makes much difference over the modified stock manifold. With the four pedal reed cage, it is more than double what the other manifolds now have. But will it be too much for the Clintons? From everything I have been reading, this manifold and reed cage should definitely help a lot.
It is now just after nine thirty. The manifold is changed out. It took more time than expected since the throttle linkage needed to be modified slightly so everything would work the same as before. Glad I decided to do the swap now, instead out at the track. That could have been too much wasted time. And not work as well either. I would not have thought to bring the extra parts to make the linkage work.
The next thing that made too much sense, is firing up the engine one more time and make sure it runs without any problems, now the parts are changed over. This again turned out to be the smart thing to do. I had to adjust this carburetor a lot just to get it running like the last time on the track. Completely forgot about that until now.
I opened the needles back to where they had been set before the stock manifold was installed. The motor seems to be very perky and maybe still a little bit lean. I adjust the low speed out just a touch more and now the engine responds extremely well. The temptation to change out to the modified carburetor is almost unbearable.
But I have plenty of time, if for nothing else but confirm if the carburetor will even run on the engine sitting here in the garage. OK that does make a lot of sense. This temptation could actually turn in to smart thinking. Maybe some of Franks smarts is rubbing off on me. Hey, I dont care who you are, that was really funny.
After a few attempts to crank the engine over it finally comes to life. It is sort of loading up too much at the moment. I lean down the low speed needle and it helps a little bit. But not really enough to keep the engine from dying. It wont start back up now. There is gas just about pouring out of the carburetor and on to the floor. This should not be happening.
After several more attempts to get the engine running again, it is now definitely flooded in a big way. I am sort of thinking it was not a good idea to do the swap just yet. But more than likely it would have done the same thing at the track. Why is it not working? I give up for a few minutes and decide to grab a bowl of cereal. Time for a much needed break anyway.
As I am pouring milk out of the bottle over corn flakes, it gets me to thinking of the gas dumping out of the carburetor. Why is it doing that? The weight of the milk in the bottle is pushing it out the spout. The small gas tank on top of the engine is sitting up high enough to be gravity feeding the carburetor.
Now I am wondering if opening up the pulse hole so the pumper diaphragm is working was a good idea? Did I miss something? It is time to tear the carburetor back apart and see what I missed or messed up before. After the soggy corn flakes were all gone, I lifted up the bowl and gulped down the rest of the milk. Well that did hit the spot.
Back in the garage, it is only a little past ten. Still plenty of time to remove the carburetor and check it over. Maybe I should put the HL-15 back on the engine and call it quits for now. That would be the wise thing to do if something doesnt just jump out and slap me in the face on this modified carburetor.
Sitting at the work bench, I pull the stacks off the carburetor. Sure enough there is a problem. The fulcrum arm is stuck down causing the needle to not seat. Or something is keeping the needle from closing. This is odd. A quick turn of the screw and remove the long pin that holds the fulcrum arm in place. I see the spring is good, but the needle is still sticking up for some reason.
After pulling the needle out, I decided just to squirt some air pressure thru the fuel passage feeding the seat. A quick shot of air and something goes flying across the garage. Whatever it was, is gone now. Another close look to make sure the rubber seat is still in place. OK, did I just find the culprit?
Only one way to confirm this is to reassemble the carburetor and put it back on the engine. The time is ticking away, and is now ten thirty. I need to get the engine back together with one of the carburetors. This modified carburetor had something causing the needle not to shut off the fuel. That explains why it was flooding. I just hope it is now fixed for good.
After a few more minutes fiddling with everything, the carburetor is now back on the engine and ready to start up again. It took a lot of pulling trying to get the engine running tho. I was about to give up and swap back to the old HL-15 carburetor. But the engine finally pops a few times. Then it fires up and is now running. Well sort of. The engine is really puffing out a lot of smoke. At least now it is trying to clear out. So I let go of the linkage to see if the engine will idle down or just load up again and die. It wants to stay running this time.
I blip the throttle a few times and it is trying to rev up. Sounds a little bit lean and is slightly nosing over. I did lean down the low speed needle earlier. First the low speed needle is opened back up. Now the engine will idle more like what I was hoping. I rev it up and the engine is clearing out now causing the tires to break loose just sitting here on the floor. Cool! I hope that is a good sign for today. I let the engine run for a few minutes and finally satisfied with the results. No big surprises and especially no big disappointments...yet.
Out of nowhere, Steve comes in running and shouting for all it is worth. Hey man, its been like a long time! Are we actually going to the track today? Wow it seems like forever ago. I remembered to bring my helmet and stuff. Uh, where are you? I look up and over towards Steves voice and cant see anything around me. Wow I was so focused on getting this engine running, didnt even notice the garage had completely filled with smoke.
Steve immediately grabs the handle on the big garage door and pulls it all the way up. Then he looks around for the fan. Oh yea, I forgot, that fan took a dump a while back. Oh well. Hey!, you need to get out of there. Like right now, before you start choking and end up sick to your stomach. Sure aint no fun sitting around here all afternoon watching your face turn green.
I got the message and bailed out quickly. No amount of exhaust smoke would have kept the smile off my face just then. The engine actually runs with my modified carburetor. I can only hope it will work better than the one it is replacing. Any better would be good. A lot better would be super.
Once again the big day rolls around. It is early Friday morning and there is no way I can sleep in. Out to the garage, I go over everything that was planned for today. Checking my list of things to test, I collect everything together and have a box full of parts ready to load up in the Ranchero when Steve gets here around lunch time.
Except for fixing the front end on my kart, neither of the karts have actually been worked on for the last couple of weeks. But it still makes good sense to go over everything really well. Check tire pressures and adjust the chains. Look over the tierods, wheel and axle bearings, and make sure the steering doesnt have any slop or issues. It would also be smart to put in some fresh gas and fire both the engines up. Nothing has changed since the last trip to the track. We should be good to go today.
So I just wait for Steve to get done working and then we can head out to the track. Looking on the wall at a clock, I see it is just now ten minutes past nine o'clock. Geez, you have got to be kidding. I have everything ready to go right now, and still three more hours waiting. OK, what can I do to pass the time? This is going to be an eternity.
While sitting here, I am thinking seriously about going ahead and changing out the intake manifold on my engine. This way I can use Steve as a reference to base how well the engines ran the last time out. OK that makes some sense. As my fingers were backing off those nuts holding the carburetor, I just stopped cold and froze for a moment.
This is when I realized my engine still had that completely stock intake manifold on the engine. I never swapped it back over. Both of our engines had modified manfolds. The reed opening had been enlarged a lot. More than enough to make a big difference with the HL-15 carburetor. Wow, that could have cost some down time at the track. Glad I caught it before we loaded up today. But should I go ahead and put the Palmini on or go back to the modified manifold for now?
Yes, go ahead and change it out now with the Palmini like I had decided. Both of the engines were running almost identical before this completely stock manifold was put on to try out. I could go back to square one and wait until we have everything running the same as before at the track. No, I have confirmed what doesnt work, so the Palmini manifold will get put on the engine this time.
When we arrive at the track, the first thing to do is get Steve back running comfortably. I will follow him around and make sure he is right there up to speed. This will also give me an idea if the Palmini manifold makes much difference over the modified stock manifold. With the four pedal reed cage, it is more than double what the other manifolds now have. But will it be too much for the Clintons? From everything I have been reading, this manifold and reed cage should definitely help a lot.
It is now just after nine thirty. The manifold is changed out. It took more time than expected since the throttle linkage needed to be modified slightly so everything would work the same as before. Glad I decided to do the swap now, instead out at the track. That could have been too much wasted time. And not work as well either. I would not have thought to bring the extra parts to make the linkage work.
The next thing that made too much sense, is firing up the engine one more time and make sure it runs without any problems, now the parts are changed over. This again turned out to be the smart thing to do. I had to adjust this carburetor a lot just to get it running like the last time on the track. Completely forgot about that until now.
I opened the needles back to where they had been set before the stock manifold was installed. The motor seems to be very perky and maybe still a little bit lean. I adjust the low speed out just a touch more and now the engine responds extremely well. The temptation to change out to the modified carburetor is almost unbearable.
But I have plenty of time, if for nothing else but confirm if the carburetor will even run on the engine sitting here in the garage. OK that does make a lot of sense. This temptation could actually turn in to smart thinking. Maybe some of Franks smarts is rubbing off on me. Hey, I dont care who you are, that was really funny.
After a few attempts to crank the engine over it finally comes to life. It is sort of loading up too much at the moment. I lean down the low speed needle and it helps a little bit. But not really enough to keep the engine from dying. It wont start back up now. There is gas just about pouring out of the carburetor and on to the floor. This should not be happening.
After several more attempts to get the engine running again, it is now definitely flooded in a big way. I am sort of thinking it was not a good idea to do the swap just yet. But more than likely it would have done the same thing at the track. Why is it not working? I give up for a few minutes and decide to grab a bowl of cereal. Time for a much needed break anyway.
As I am pouring milk out of the bottle over corn flakes, it gets me to thinking of the gas dumping out of the carburetor. Why is it doing that? The weight of the milk in the bottle is pushing it out the spout. The small gas tank on top of the engine is sitting up high enough to be gravity feeding the carburetor.
Now I am wondering if opening up the pulse hole so the pumper diaphragm is working was a good idea? Did I miss something? It is time to tear the carburetor back apart and see what I missed or messed up before. After the soggy corn flakes were all gone, I lifted up the bowl and gulped down the rest of the milk. Well that did hit the spot.
Back in the garage, it is only a little past ten. Still plenty of time to remove the carburetor and check it over. Maybe I should put the HL-15 back on the engine and call it quits for now. That would be the wise thing to do if something doesnt just jump out and slap me in the face on this modified carburetor.
Sitting at the work bench, I pull the stacks off the carburetor. Sure enough there is a problem. The fulcrum arm is stuck down causing the needle to not seat. Or something is keeping the needle from closing. This is odd. A quick turn of the screw and remove the long pin that holds the fulcrum arm in place. I see the spring is good, but the needle is still sticking up for some reason.
After pulling the needle out, I decided just to squirt some air pressure thru the fuel passage feeding the seat. A quick shot of air and something goes flying across the garage. Whatever it was, is gone now. Another close look to make sure the rubber seat is still in place. OK, did I just find the culprit?
Only one way to confirm this is to reassemble the carburetor and put it back on the engine. The time is ticking away, and is now ten thirty. I need to get the engine back together with one of the carburetors. This modified carburetor had something causing the needle not to shut off the fuel. That explains why it was flooding. I just hope it is now fixed for good.
After a few more minutes fiddling with everything, the carburetor is now back on the engine and ready to start up again. It took a lot of pulling trying to get the engine running tho. I was about to give up and swap back to the old HL-15 carburetor. But the engine finally pops a few times. Then it fires up and is now running. Well sort of. The engine is really puffing out a lot of smoke. At least now it is trying to clear out. So I let go of the linkage to see if the engine will idle down or just load up again and die. It wants to stay running this time.
I blip the throttle a few times and it is trying to rev up. Sounds a little bit lean and is slightly nosing over. I did lean down the low speed needle earlier. First the low speed needle is opened back up. Now the engine will idle more like what I was hoping. I rev it up and the engine is clearing out now causing the tires to break loose just sitting here on the floor. Cool! I hope that is a good sign for today. I let the engine run for a few minutes and finally satisfied with the results. No big surprises and especially no big disappointments...yet.
Out of nowhere, Steve comes in running and shouting for all it is worth. Hey man, its been like a long time! Are we actually going to the track today? Wow it seems like forever ago. I remembered to bring my helmet and stuff. Uh, where are you? I look up and over towards Steves voice and cant see anything around me. Wow I was so focused on getting this engine running, didnt even notice the garage had completely filled with smoke.
Steve immediately grabs the handle on the big garage door and pulls it all the way up. Then he looks around for the fan. Oh yea, I forgot, that fan took a dump a while back. Oh well. Hey!, you need to get out of there. Like right now, before you start choking and end up sick to your stomach. Sure aint no fun sitting around here all afternoon watching your face turn green.
I got the message and bailed out quickly. No amount of exhaust smoke would have kept the smile off my face just then. The engine actually runs with my modified carburetor. I can only hope it will work better than the one it is replacing. Any better would be good. A lot better would be super.