ok John, i got impatient and bought the flame thrower and put the petronix back in.

started right up. The Petronix kit definitely needs a coil with resistance.

Then I read your tips on carb mixture. I stuck the vacuum guage on there and closed my eyes afraid to see how bad it might be.

darn if she weren't steady at 17 inches at idle.

i advanced the timing (i believe that's what I did: 10 BTC).

that brought the vacuum up from the to about 18 or 19. (The guage had a red zone which said 'late timing' and I was just a tad into it with 17 inches pressure.

then I did the carb adjustment. however, i must say, i really didnt see a difference in the vacuum until the engine started sputtering. so while i am sure your method of carb mixture comes with a lot of experience, i guess my guage wasn't sensitive enough to show any advantage over doing it 'by ear'.

so now it runs sweet. very very nice. very smooth. starts right up. nice acceleration. and all this with the autolite 2bbl. no problems with it so far.

i do hear some 'knocking' or at least mettalic tapping when accelerating or climbing at about 60-65mph. (I had a valve job done, but not a complete rebuild yet.)

the worst part, however, was this all started with replacing the manifold because of the rear intake leak. well, looks like i missed something because now its leaking coolant - a little from the front corner, and must be some from the rear. i see a little bit of oil, but i think the coolant is washing down the build-up from the last leak.

i think you or someone said you can't use enough RTV on the Performer. Looks like I didnt use enough. Arrgh!

but overall, except for the coolant leak, i'm pleased with how well it turned out. if i can get the steering problem resolved, she's gonna be a pretty nice running truck. might even get the jc whitney window channel kit before winter!

mike

 

Be careful, that knocking under load could be engine pinging and that does major damage. I'd back the timming a few deg and see if it goes away. If it turns out to be pinging, I'd clean the carbon from the pistons, try some better/different gas, colder plugs...

Whatever you do, don't let it ping.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 23-Aug-01 AT 11:52 PM (EST)[/font][p]Ditto on the pinging...retard the timing and/or put in better gas before you do engine damage. But I'm posting to comment about the edelbrock intakes and sealing problem. I've known allot of guys who chuck the cork endseals (per edelbrocks instructions) and slather on the rtv...then end up with a leak. Same thing happened to me first time. Since then I've put on three different edelbrock intakes and used the cork endseals along with the rtv and I've had perfect seals every time. Just wanted to mention it.

Oh, and congrats on the fix! Feels good doesn't it?

If your knuckles ain't bleeding you did something wrong.

'72 F-250 "Hi-Boy" 4x4, Dana 60/HD44, FE428 @ 400+ ponies , 4-speed, custom suspension w lift, mud on black.

 

thanks. i was still in doubt about whether to go for the higher vacuum or retard the timing to avoid pinging.

but i still hear the pinging, so i will retard it a bit. - and yes i'm using the cheapest gas.

BTW, I knew that whichever way i went with the seals, i would wish i had done it the other way...so i'll probably go with the cork 'next time'.

mike