Thank you sunshine, I mean Ben...

I know what you mean. Plus I still have to finish the bed with new wood.

 

Trying to undo that whole "done" thing, are we? Good luck with that!

 

Deposit on plugs should be the colour of just nicely done bread crust (like Mom used to make) to dark or black = too rich , too light = too lean

 

I read that to say to me it is starving in the turn. I would first check the float level.

As for the worn throttle shaft bore here is a temporary test fix I have used.

Wash the area clean with starting fluid. Let it dry. Than seal the area around the shaft where the new bushings needs to go on both sides with Red RTV. Use lots. it looks ugly but will seal it even while driving. For how long I am not sure. I drove an FE like that for several months. The point is that it is a cheap test to seal it and then tune it. It will give an idea as to weather putting bushings in at the time of the rebuild will even be worth it.

 

This might be worth just to test if that's the issue.

Thanks,

 

Replacing the throttle shaft is a pretty big deal, really. You have to ream the shaft bores exactly in line, then setting the throttle plates to seat simultaneously and all the way around is no easy thing. I'd be amazed if a sloppy throttle shaft did anything but affect idle anyway, I don't think that's your problem. Vintage Speed sells just the throttle section, brand new, and improved, I'd go that way if you really think it needs it.

 

Well, I took it to this old time mechanic in town. He thinks the carb needs to be rebuild. So I'm having it done by a place in the Chicago area that specializes in these old carbs.

 

I had the exact same problem after I rebuilt the carb - solution throw away the modern plastic accelerator pump and go back to the old leather accelerator pump. An easy diagnosis, run around with the choke 1/3 out (makes it run rich) if it behaves right then you've probably got a problem with the accelerator pump not squirting enough fuel on demand.

 

Bryan,
Running with the choke on will diagnose a driving lean condition but usually not an acceleration lean condition. I would guess if you had a lean condition that got better with the choke on that you may have had a vacuum leak in the carb (or under it) that may have got fixed when you re-opened it to replace the accelerator pump. The other thing is by driving with the choke on you could be over rich which would mask other issues.

 

This sputter is driving me crazy. I had the carb rebuilt, including the throttle shaft, and it still sputters. It only does it at low rpm, and not all the time. If I take off easy, letting the clutch out easy and accelerate easy it's OK. It has new plugs, distributor, coil.

Thoughts?

 

While it's idling, pull the plug wires one at a time. See if it makes a drastic change to the idle. Maybe you have a bad wire.

 

It sounds like an off idle lean condition to me. Just because it has been rebuilt does not mean the acc. pump is adjusted right. The only real way to tell that is with fluid in it. It sounds like you might be a little slow on the acc. pump discharge with throttle movement. By taking off slow your not requiring much help from the acc. circuit. I would check and adjust the acc. pump linkage so that with the slightest movement of the throttle you get an acc. nozzle squirt.

 

It could very well not be a carb problem at all. In fact it sounds suspiciously like a distributor problem. Check the wire under the points plate that goes to the coil. They have a habit of wearing a hole in the insulation; then when the vacuum advance moves the plate, it momentarily shorts. The screws that hold the points down are often the cause, they stick down thru the plate.

 

there are bushing kits to repair the slop

 

I don't have points. I have a Pertronics points replacement in the distributor.