LocostUSA.com

Things didn't go well... I couldn't source any 12x24 heli coils anywhere in town. Neither could I locate and slightly longer bolts that size. Apparently Holley likes using odd-sized fittings, at least that's what a couple of people said when I asked about 12X24 stuff.

So, I ordered the heli coils, a couple of new power valves, and some new gaskets. All that came in as of yesterday. I fixed the threads in the carb bodies with the heli coils. Kinda tedious, but they worked. Spent some time cleaning up the carb body after drilling on it. Lot's of spray cleaner and paper towels were sacrificed. Put some new gaskets on the front float bowl and metering plate, and put the carb back together. Annnnnddddd... The F*#()@(NG thing won't run!?!?!?

Much ffiddling with carb followed. Cleaned out needle/seat in the front bowl. Adjusted float height (it was only a tiny bit off, but...). Re-installed the old gasket, then a new one I'd just gotten from Summit. Replaced main jets with slightly smaller ones. Checked needle/seat again. Cleaned it again. Adjusted needle/seat height again. Adjusted idle mixture... Etc,etc,etc.

Nothing helps. It seems to be massively flooding. Can't see where from. Something is pi$$ing gasoline down the intake somewhere.

AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Slotus was, is, and always will be a "Mallock Tribute"! In spite of the "Blue Oval" sourced "Yank" V-8, it is showing you that deep down inside it was, is, and always will be... an English sports car!!!

_________________
Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

Hey there J D,

I have the Toyota 20V and at first I was looking into a pair of Del Ortos or Webers cuz i didn't want the headache of EFI. Of course the EFI came with the engine and the carbs were .expensive and a little elusive . and I got a great deal on a mostly assembled MegaSquirt(less than half the price of a pair of side drafts, much less when you throw in the manifold). Glad I did. Tuning the MS is a cinch with a laptop and expert help. I had booth.

But to deal with your current problem. i once upon a time experienced something similar. Went through 3 carb overhaul kits before I discovered the float didn't. Popped in a new float and returned 2 OH kits. Didn't seem right not to keep at least one. If only your problem was that simple.

Good luck!

_________________
Larry in Seattle

Be afraid - very afraid of bad/loose power valves!!!!

_________________
When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting -- Steve McQueen from LeMans

My build log viewtopic.php?f=36&t=10658&start=0 NOW NAMED =The Wycked 7

My other build log viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15162 The Skayt'R6

Gentlemen- Good suggestions, both of you. Thank you both! KartRacer, nice to hear from you! Been a while... Larry, always good to have ya around!

I replaced the power valve twice. Tightened it with a wrench, nice and snug, both times. New gaskets, too. I've heard so many stories about those things failing when the car backfires or "spits" thru the carb that I'm almost paranoid about them. (Almost? Understatement...) Given that, I'm not saying it isn't yet another blown power valve, but it doesn't seem likely right now.

Had that float out and looked it over, it's still floating. (I did have a similar experience with one of the SU side drafts on my MGB years ago. Finally, after hours of tinkering, I noticed the float was half full of gasoline. Duhhh... Installed a new float and was back running in no time.)

The Holley in question is now in the hands of James/Earl, our tame Ford mechanic. He's gonna go through it, see if he can find the problem. It will be Monday before he can tinker with it. I'll report back to y'all after that.

And I'm with ya, Larry... I had EFI on the car, had a bunch of weird problems, took it off to eliminate "electronics" and "sensors" as the source of the problems. Turned out to be that wandering camshaft. Then there was the destroyed camshaft I just replaced. Soon as I get a few months worth of driving/testing/not breaking stuff done, I really (REALLY!) want to go back to EFI, maybe with a Megasquirt system but EFI for sure even if I re-install the Ford stuff.

In the meantime, Happy Father's Day, y'all! Let's go watch the 24 Hours of LeMans...


Peace, Love and "Carb-Less" --
JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

A confused English sports car then... It's leaking gas, on the inside of the engine. Brit cars are supposed to leak oil on the outside of the engine.

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

My sinking float was deceptive. It wasn't one of the nice soldered up brass ones but molded in a foam like plastic. Never suspected it. Had a small container of gas on the bench and dropped it in whilst I put some other small pieces together. Was surprised when it sank. It didn't slosh or feel saturated. But float it wouldn't.

_________________
Larry in Seattle

I had a similar problem with a '73 Ford Pinto. The carb had 2 molded floats on one float valve. only one float floated , the other float, didn't! It was easy to see since it tilted sideways in carb bowl. The one that didn't float was subjective. It did float but only slightly. Much less than the other side. It was hard to find. And then it was hard to find a new float from Ford. A 6-week delay I was quoted. as my DD I couldn't accept that. So I bought a used carb from the junk yard and took the float from it, after testing it of course.

JD, today's lesson is that just because it floats doesn't mean that it floats as well or as high as a good one. I do think that this is not your problem since you did have the engine running before this recent, um, complication.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I've also seen those small thimble-sized filters in fuel fittings that look like plastic mesh, with no sign of dirt on them, that wouldn't pass any fuel. Paper ones too, for that matter.

I was having a problem with a car that ran fine in town but wouldn't run at freeway speed, surged like it was lean, and turned the plugs white. But everything checked out fine. And old-time mechanic suggested pulling the filter, filling it full of fuel, and seeing if any ran though. Silly. But I did it, and... it just sat there full of fuel. I bought a new filter, poured some fuel in, and it ran out all over the bench.

The little filters were cheap enough, but that finalized my smoldering hatred of Saginaw flare fittings...

And after two days of fiddling, Earl says the power valve was leaking. Bad gasket. Kartracer wins the "Guess What the Dog A$$ Slotus Did THIS Time" contest. Free seafood dinner, you provide the transportation to Tallahassee.

Went to the autocross on Sunday. I can say "Nothing broke, fell off, or caught fire." It ain't quite true, but I can say it. Only had a very small fire, on Saturday morning. A couple of things fell off, but nothing critical, and the course workers returned them later.

The engine ran just fine. Plenty of power, plenty of oil pressure (about 42 lbs at hot idle!), no overheating, no strange noises. With the really hot asphalt we had plenty of grip. And plenty of sweat... I think I heard the heat index was 108 that afternoon. Don't know if that's right, but I can testify it was hotter than the gate hinges of Hades.

I made all six runs we had that day. Didn't go fast enough to score any trophies. I'm also realizing that the car has more grip now, and that I'm not using it. On my last run of the day, I tried to push it more than I had been. Didn't slip an inch. I might have been pushing ME, but I wasn't nearthe limit for the car. More seat-time is needed. (Shucks, if I have to... )

So, I guess now I can get back to working on that wing. Or is it wingS? Marcus??? Are ya still out there???

Peace, Love and Wings-
JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Big thumbs up!!! Pass on the food - as awesome as it sounds but the travel is a little much

_________________
When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting -- Steve McQueen from LeMans

My build log viewtopic.php?f=36&t=10658&start=0 NOW NAMED =The Wycked 7

My other build log viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15162 The Skayt'R6

Congrats, JD! Looks like you might be over the hump on Slotus reliability. And it's not a bad thing to have more car than driver. Think of it as a learning opportunity.
And once you get the wing-thing done, there'll be even more to learn.
Go Team Slotus!!!

_________________
Cheers, Tom

My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
"It's the construction of the car-the sheer lunacy and joy of making diverse parts come together and work as one-that counts."
Ultima Spyder, Northstar 4.0, Porsche G50/52

Uh, . . . . what kind of fish are we talking about?

Just kidding. Congratulations on the successful autocross.

If you have further issues, you might want to consider one of those Catholic guys who walk around with the tall, pointy hats and smoking orbs on chains, blessing everything. Might help.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Well shucks... Can't say I blame you. But if you ain't coming, can I have your shrimp? Let me know if you change your mind, we are always open to a fish/shrimp fry at Team Slotus!

Lonnie- Local favorite is grouper, thick meaty fillets. Really good grilled or fried. We also get good, fresh shrimp from the Gulf. Our favorite seafood market will be selling them by noon today when the shrimp were in the gulf off Carrabell last night. Oysters too, from East Point or Apalachicola, just out of the water. Come on down!

I guess one of the guys with the tall pointy hats and smoking orbs would be better than the voodoo guy with the skull face-paint and the big cigar. I guess... Maybe...

Peace, Love and Fried Grouper-
JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Hi Tom! Very true, on both counts. The thing I need to do is to reach a "steady state" with the car, so I can learn to drive it. I spent several decades driving an MGB and developed habits that don't necessarily translate to driving the Slotus. Obviously, driver (re-)training is needed. And I need to limit the changes to the car in between as much as possible. (Hint: It ain't very possible... Can't resist... )

And when we "wing it" the learning curve starts all over again. I suspect I'll be collecting social security before I get the thang all figured out! The adventure continues...

So, what's your favorite? Shrimp, oysters or fish? (We do some purty good pork chops here too...)

Peace, Love and BBQ Sauce-
JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom