@@robertmoffett3486or inexperienced. Just because people don’t know everything like apparently everyone in the comments, doesn’t mean they’re lazy. Hilarious.
I've learned that on older cars. When you replace a part. Always keep the old one. For many reasons. Maybe value or originality. Maybe for reference. Maybe to rebuild. Or maybe it wasn't the problem to begin with.
Actually, it's usually safe to assume that previous owners, mechanics etc. didn't know what they were doing. So it's a good idea to have a look at things that were "fixed" before it got to you.
Yup, if the last person(s) didn't fix it, you can not assume they did everything right, made proper measurements, interpreted test results correctly, etc.
Eventually you get to a point where the parts catalogs in the auto parts store don't go as far back as the year the car was built. And that's when it's time to always bring the old part in.
One of the funny things about old stuff is... you might want to stash away old catalogs - it varies company to company. Accel used to sell different ignition kits for example.... what was inside? Better have a catalog to look it up.
Yes sir and as Uncle Tony pointed out carburetors are used in many various applications and it pays to keep all the old gaskets for comparison when installing a carburetor and even then if one doesn't pay attention one can install the wrong base gasket (as in this case) and inject a new problem and therefore blame the part they just installed.
Watching you do this and explaining the reasons and seeing how you enjoy doing this stuff reminds me of a person that is longer with us it reminds me of him
i Put 1 on my old 258 jeep and except for the electronic choke ( wired open and 2 pumps starts and idles) it is running better than it ever did with the carter. I Put an HEI on it as well. Good Video. I think I have 70 for the carb and 80 on the HEI. So a whole new ignition and fuel system for about 150.00 is amazing really.
My '77 Pontiac Astre Iron Duke 4 banger has a progressive linkage 2 bbl. Weber carb. made by Rochester under license from Weber... gives 28 MPG City and 34 MPG Hiway, extremely high MPG for mid 1970's... unheard of in early 1970's...
I fell in a similar trap, putting a kit in an AFB, I matched up the used bowel gasket with the similar one in the kit, there were about 3 variations available. Someone in the past had used the wrong gasket, and the car ran fine as long as you didn't get into the secondaries, when it would fall on it's face.
What a great catch Tony! You are gifted with the wonderful trait of CURIOSITY! This undoubtedly had led you to many discoveries over the decades.Certainly added to my education just now Uncle Tony. Thanks for that, Sir! Chuck in Florida
This was more along the line of experience and deductive reasoning than curiosity, once he pulled the hose off the carb and there was no change it moves to the next thing in line, the carb, after that it moves to gasket, then manifold, to newbie it may seem to be curiosity but to a mechanic it's just steps of the diagnostic procedure.
Thanks for the reminder! I've been bit by the assumption bug several times (self inflicted). Most recently was my current Ford. Was chasing a gremlin for weeks. It ran but was inefficient, stumbly idle, plugs were lean, etc. I started firing the parts cannon at it, didn't improve. No vac leaks, all the grounds were addressed, driving me nuts. Driving home from the shop one night I let it warm up then pulled over and popped the hood to check my latest replacement part - the #8 plug wire was arching to the manifold - ?! Next day I ohm tested the wire and it failed, ALL of them failed, including the coil! I made the mistake of assuming the wires were good without testing them. Never again! It's those simple things that can be easily overlooked (at least for guys like me).
First day of Auto shop class the teacher writes ASSUME on the board and tells us to write down what it means to us... After 10 minutes he goes to the board and draws lines through the word ASS/U/ME and said when you assume you will make an ASS out of you and me! That always stuck with me Thanks Danny Caldwell! Andy
had to laugh at this comment....first day of "woodshop" class New Providence HS in 1972 my shop teacher laid out the same advice, remember it to this day, HA! Thanks Fred Dimuccio! Oh yeah... hope you got that finger sewn back on too!
Awesome catch Tony...I wonder how many mechanics would have figured that one out, even those well-versed in carburated engines. As for that $80 carb, putting politics aside for a minute, keep in mind that China has a space station and a rover on Mars right now. They ARE capable of making high quality stuff...
China is capable of making high quality stuff. It all comes down to those who want something manufactured in China, how much they want to pay for their product, to what they will get.
And guess who's funding China? And yes they are capable of making quality products just like any other countries! The problem is there are too many people with the GET RICH QUICK mindset of LET'S HAVE CHINA PRODUCE IT mentality. Let's face it China produced that carburetor for $3.00 in a slave shop by workers making $.25 an hour for 12 hours per day. But we pay closer to $100.00 for the carburetor. Do I have to continue? I'm 66 and know what a hard day's work is!
@@MrToranaGuy Yeah, but in a lot of cases you don’t have a choice. If the made in China part is the only one available I will buy a Chinese made part. I ordered two relays for my C4 Corvette. I thought I was smart and ordered OEM ones. The correct AC/Delco box, but once opened up I noticed ‘Made in China’. Same thing with a Raybestos brake hose. All fine parts, but there is basically no way to avoid it. At least we can keep our cars on the road.
You are 100% correct. Worked for a company that made poly coated fabric. We got the fabric from China. And they could make cheap fabric or really good fabric. It's was whatever we wanted. So ya, you ask for junk you will get it. The real issue is how they treat and pay their workers. Dog poo. That is the only way they can compete with the rest of the world.
Back in the old days (the 60s) when we suspected carbon or sludge on the rings (or lifters), we'd take either Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF and run it in the crankcase for a few hundred miles, drain the oil, change the filter, replace and run. Wasn't a cure all necessarily, but about as often as not, it would clean up exhaust or quiet noisy lifters. Cheap and easy.
Then run Shell Rotella fleet engine oil, it's made for heavy duty gas as well as diesel engines and has a lot of detergents. Change the oil filter before 1000 miles, because if the engine is really coked up, all that gunk will go to the filter. The oil is safe to run and has stronger anti wear additives, though I've heard they've been cutting those a bit. Best of all, the oil is usually cheaper by the gallon.
Yes sir and in the old days of road draft tubes what one would do is to remove the road draft tube and pour a little gasoline on it (of course it is isolated from any flammable containers, duh!!!!) and lit it off to burn out the built up carbon in the tube in order to clean it out. Remember this; this was back when motor oils were no as good and were not changed at regular intervals and also the mindset that you never changed the oil (try working on one of those sludge bucket engines). The modern (actually came into beings in the late forties) PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system has a big bearing on oil consumption and rings clogging, especially the oil rings that can get clogged up just as the old road draft tubes did) I did not realize this myself until a man that ran an automotive machine shop explained to me the design of the PCV system. Clears up a lot of mysteries about oil consumption.
We still do that in the now days, diesel or ATF in the oil and we mostly just let them idle with it with the occasional throttle flick to check progress
For a first pass you might try a milder approach of spinning on a fresh filter and topping off with ATF, then go practice high speed highway entrances for a couple hours, noting the smoke level. Sometimes a good wide open 0-80 or two is all it takes.
Back in the day a friend of mine who a good basic mechanic would suggest adding a quart of transmission fluid to the gas tank(with each fill up mind you) and that would help lubricate the intake guides and also help with the carbon buildup. He also used the application of dripping transmission fluid into the carburetor for cleaning the carbon out of the engine. In fact I had completely forgot about that because it was back in the seventies.
Take a lap Uncle Tony. No feeling better than finding and fixing a problem like that. You told it to the people who really appreciate that kind of find. I find stuff sometimes. But when I tell my wife… she just lookscc be at me with a blind stare. I have to get hold of my cousins or brother before the find can be properly appreciated. Nice catch.
I've been running a cheap Chinese toyota 3k carb in my suzuki samurai for like a year with no real dramas apart from being a little small for it. Not bad for 110$ considering the only "factory replacement is 1300$ from india and in my experience, parts from India for this car are hit and miss anyway. Good investigational wisdom Tony!
I think I'd give a dose of seafoam, over time it can, will get the majority of the oil gack and a lot of the carbon out of that old 318. It worked well on my '87 318.
You know how we spell assume. And you are right about the whole field of auto repair as it takes a detective to dig down and find the root cause of the problem. And it takes a big person to admit that it is not always the "cheap Chinese" junk that is causing the problem. I recently replaced a starter on my pickup with a NAPA Remanufactured unit that had the sticker "a product of Mexico" and it had all of the specifications and checks made on that starter. I installed it and the amazement at listening to a like new starter. I had a time constraint here and went with the most efficient and cost effective method and this filled the bill. So far so good.
The Mexico reman starters/alternators seem hit or miss, make sure it turns smooth and have them test it in store before leaving, they've all worked for me if I do that extra quality control work.
Good advice Tony! Don't assume anything! In my early career & training I learned: :Trust but verify" Which meant double-cheak everything, includung a trainee work! I ignored that last advice in an engine test facility. I asked him did you switch those oil line valves Back to the Run position? Yes, he said. I could have taken 6 steps around the engine stand to Verify, but I did not & we toasted the bearings in 3 min. of warmup. I took full responsibility, because it was my job to Verify! For cleaning the crankcase chemically, I would suggest a quart of Rislone Engine Treatment (extra detergents & gentle cleaners to run for 3K miles), plus 16 oz. of Marvel Mystery Oil. Both to be added at an oil & filter change, reduce the new oil by the 1.5 qts. the additives take up. Tony, what's your favorite cleaners for a cruddy crankcase?? Thanks for your advice & channel !
I just worked on a Chinese made Rochester carburetor today, I think it had very rough handling in shipping. It looked fine, put it on a Chevy inline 6, fired it up and it was dumping fuel everywhere. pulled it off and opened it up, the needle had popped out of it's fitting and had jammed the Float all the way down, letting the fuel just free flow. Put everything back the right way and now it works fine.
Bought the same carb for my 68 fury 3 , it looks pretty good honestly, thanks again for all these good explications , long time fan here , since your beginnings!
Give this a try. It worked for a guy who bought a mint little old ladies car. It drive fine in town but would sputter and smoke at 40+ mph. He pulled the plugs and shot a bunch of STP treatment in there. Let it sit for about a week. With the plugs out and rags handy to catch the mess, crank it over, blow out any fluids. Install plugs and see what happens. It loosened the rings in that car, might work for you too.
BG has an oil cleaning system the owner can have done to clean up the engine internals if there is a carbon / sludge issue. There are a couple YT videos of it being used to clean up some really nasty engines.
I almost bought one of the Chinese BBD's to replace an original that seriously needed the throttle shaft rebushed, but instead I used a 1979 Holley 2280 in place of the 1968 BBD. The Holley has the same footprint as the BBD and was an easy rebuild from my parts stash. The only thing that wasn't a perfect match was the choke rod. I put an electric choke kit from Mike's Carburetor in place of my original and using both the thick and thin intake manifold gasket from my rebuild kit for everything to function correctly and it's been great ever since. But it looks like I could have bought the new BBD and kept going or even just swapped the throttle plate over to my original BBD.
We've had quite a few customers who want their twin Su carbs replacing with chinese copys that they have bought off the internet. They are usually cheap thin cast and shoddy engineered, not to mention a hell of a lot more expensive than having the originals reconned.
[Most] Chinese stuff has done a complete about-face since the 80's in my opinion. You just have to find the ones made on a Wednesday. Good stuff Tony. Keep up the good work.
I agree. I'm going through that now with the monte carlo ss I purchased in September. I found many different problems with it. From the wrong spark plugs, wrong carburetor, starter, spark plug wires, etc, etc.. I Love the challenge though. Happy motoring!😊
This video is making me double check if the gasket I have for my 4 barrel swap will work properly with the carb I picked up. Figured I'd save the money since the gasket is on the shelf of the garage, but now I'll be checking just in case
Ha ha only people of a certain age get that...myself included. I like both terms used as well. We just used to say I'm blasting out the carbon for improving fuel efficiency
Sometimes those holes/passages in bottom of carburetor are for vacuum to reach power valve, in which case it will run rich without proper gasket. Great videos!!!!
I’ve had that happen with chainsaws many times. I’ll buy them for little or nothing cause they’re not running and normally somebody else has tried to get them running and failed so I gotta go through and figure out what’s supposed to be there and what’s not. A lot of those carb kits look very similar but they aren’t.
Just imagine the new list of parts the untrained would possibly have thrown at that, without discovering that very small, but significant issue. Nice pickup Tony, and yes, for the record, I would have blamed the carby too 🤣
I don't think this car will make it to Kiwis anytime soon...l think the owner is going to be driving it every day when they see how effortlessly the car performs after leaving your shop 😎
I once ordered a carb rebuild kit for a Carter BBD, and yes it did come with that gasket, as well as another with the same opening as the correct gasket, but was as thin as the wrong gasket...I ended up having to stack the gasket due to the same problem.
Just a couple of points: 1). Cars were around for a long time befor the pcv was introduced. Mopar's got it in 1963. 1967 the epa *(imposter branch of the gov.) made it a law. With today's oil, no pcv is no issue for crank case sludge. If you never run it long enough to warm it up, just change the oil. 2). That engine came w/ a Bbd 2bbl, where is it? It's about the simplest carb ever, no hidden wells or passages. Spray it out with today's carb cleaner using the provided straw and it'll be like new unless it's got over a million miles on it and the thrt shft bushings are gone. The trickiest part is setting the float level, as the needle and seat are in the inlet fitting, so you have to watch how far it screws in when you tighten it up. If you have all the parts, including the float pivot shaft bail, you can run it with the top off to see the float level. * The EPA is unconstitutional. Congress spota make the laws in this land, not EPAs. OK, gotta go. ben/ michigan
I just so happened to find a split over an inch long on a vacuum line, running from my power steering to the front of my intake plenum ( fuel injected Toyota 3RZ in my 2000 Tacoma 4x4 ), but it was hidden on the very bottom of the line. The only way I discovered it was by feeling underneath it with my fingers. I knew something wasn't right, because it was bogging like crazy. Damned thing runs like brand new now.......all over a bad vacuum line only 8" long. Lesson learned: don't rely only on visual inspections of vacuum lines. Run the entire length of them with your fingers to find hidden splits & cracks underneath that ya can't see. It's also the only way to detect if any vacuum line has become hard & brittle ( by squeezing the line ), which will start getting tiny cracks. Often times, it's the littlest, simplest things that can be the source of the problem. Now I know I don't need a valve adjustment, lol. Made my day.
I have been using the BG EPR oil additive in old engines to help clean the carbon out of the rings with really good success. I'm getting ready to tear down a 200k mi engine that I did the treatment to last summer, hoping I it shows clean...
hey uncle tony,this is off topic but relates to something you had trouble with in the past,CAM ISSUES,my friend and i have been back yard mechanics for friends,we are both older than you,i had a cam lobe go bad on my camaro,thought it was me,until my friend got a comp cams flat tappet cam and lifters,guess what,yup,so he phones comp tells them what is wrong the cam failed and the lobes are off,reason it failed, by comp,he didnt break it in right,he didnt rev it high enough,he had poor oil pressure,he didnt get it hot enough,the chrome headers are blue from heat,then they tell him he should have gotten a roller cam,what and where is the pride in american made gone?oh right it is in china,ps we is Canadian from chinada,not a comp fan anymore,we may have a couple years on you but we are alike when it comes to cars,you dodge,him ford,me chev,and there is about 20 guys we know have had cam failures
Get good and warm and trickle distilled water through the carb it will steam clean the valves and ring or a bottle of Berrymans might help hopefully it did hurt the rings but the 318 is a tuff Lil engine so it might be fine.
I remember when I first met one of my girlfriends, she asked me to look at her car because it was “making weird noises”. Turns out she didn’t change the oil for 50k. We ran a litre of ATF through it for 100k twice, change the PCV valve and blow out the line. Somehow it still managed to run another 6 years
I had good results running the PCV hose into the power brake hole on the manifold if there were no power brakes. I did this the first time on a my fresh 273 63 V100 with edelbrock hi rise and Holley 600 w/ TRWforged 10.5 to one and Crower 290 degreecam, cyclone fenderwell exit headers cam with no port for the the smog . I got pulled over for loud exhaust and the cop popped my hood and said " The people of California don't take kindly to willful removal of a smog device". My best friend's mom, the court clerk swore me in having explained we were having a lawyer fill in for a sick judge. I told him I was a college boy using the car for school and we put in an engine that originally had no smog which was true. He Harrumphed a few times and said "In the interest of justice , Case dismissed. Lucky 18 year old in 1972 was I!
Good job! Those BBD carbs indeed take a specific gasket. No idea you could get a new one. I got a box of them to rebuild for my slant 6 and other projects
I bought a chinese knock off of a Ford 2 bbl carb to replace the 2bbl variable venturi carb on my car. Have not installed yet but I hope it will work well.
Wow, thought I was the last person in the world running a vv. Hold on to the old one. They're really great once you get the hang of keeping them in alugnment.
Dump a half gallon of diesel into the block. Idle for 30 minutes and drain the oil and filter. Go get the cheapest oil and filter. Do oil and diesel again for 30 minutes at idle. Drain the pan leaving the drain plug off for 15 minutes to make sure everything poured out. Now put the drain plug back in and add some good oil and filter. Drive light to normal no heavy exceleration for 100 miles. Then change the oil and filter again. Then drive for 1000 miles and change your oil again. Then things should be okay to drive 2500 between oil changes. Note to everyone. I'm an idiot you do this at your own risk!!
It's a good thing God gave us more than one thumb. The air/fuel needs have a lot more to do with the application than the # of cylinders. There's a reason most V8s came with 2 bbls from the factory; for a slow-revving workhorse in a truck, or a family car, they are simple and reliable under a wide range of atmospheric conditions, and a 4 bbl (or even a bigger 2 bbl) wouldn't make the engine more effective at what it's meant to do. It's the same reason most inline sixes came with 1-bbl carbs. By the same token, you can take an inline six like a 300 Ford or a Chrysler slant, build in more compression, more cam, and more exhaust, and it will go like hell with a 4-bbl - remember, that Ford six is bigger than some V8s. But you wouldn't have much fun with it in a dump truck. Then we get to the 4-cylinders. Today, even a sad little 1.6 litre can make 200 horsepower with a turbo (and fuel injection) and haul around a family sedan. But you can build something like a 2.3 Ford like from a Ranger to make a lot of power with a carb; people do. One popular choice seems to be about a 500-CFM 2-bbl that wouldn't be a bad fit for a big, slow-revving V8 in a dump truck (Holley makes up to a 500 2-bbl but there are Autolite 2100s up to 424 cfm that Ford used on big V8s in the 70s). But at that point, with as many RPM, a 4-bbl could work just as well or even better on your little 4-cylinder. So, where's your other thumb?
There’s a pretty good ac delco fuel injector cleaner that cleans up carbon pretty well, worked pretty good a sticky valve, mitigated it, still had to tear down.
Im so used to the pcv rattling away it probably would have made me check it. Or I could have been oblivious lol. I know the one on my 85 d150 with the 318 is noisy as hell.
I don't see a way to add pictures or videos, but I have one of those china carbs - $67(?) On a d300 318 w torque cam - 4.56 rear, and I have pulled 20,000 lbs with it (and that's not just a wild guess).....oh, that's with my custom hitch bolted to the top and bottom flange....
I have gotten Chinese carbs and stuff that I had to modify it to work, maybe because of a pattern, not sure. But there have been a few times. For example, Chinese replacement carbs for Japanese atvs. They also get trashed up really quick. But it will work if it's all you can find or afford. Definitely put a good fuel filter before a Chinese carb.
A couple of years ago, my 1981 Troybilt Horse rototiller needed a new carb - it was worn out. I paid about $20 for a Chinese replacement. I put it on and it started on the first pull. Last year, I ran the gas out of the tank and let the engine run until it ran out. This Summer, I put gas in it and it started on the first pull. Yeah, I hate sending money to the enemy. But the alternatives just weren't there.
Alternatives are there, but they cost more. Buying American is a tough argument to sell when the cost is so much more, but what happens when what's left of American manufacturing is gone and the only jobs left are selling real estate and working for the government?
@@rcnelson I do try. Love it when I can find a made in USA product, but it's difficult in many cases. Then when you get it it says "Made in USA using global parts" Ugh.
Maybe pouring ATF down the Carb and doing an old fashion burn Clean it some times work to free up things like Sticky stuff like rings and valves last ditch try before a good overhaul
Tell me about it! Last year I decided to renew the top part of the engine of my Mercury Cougar and the new carb gasket was too thin for a Performer RPM. I removed the intake manifold dozens of times, thinking the leak was between the heads and that part. If my brother didn't put his hand under the carb spacer,, which is hollow, I would never have the car working properly. The other gasket had been able to keep the car working properly for more than 30 years and it is just 1mm thicker.
Somewhere along the line somebody, instead of properly aligning the distributor gear, clocked the positions of the the spark plug wires over one position.on the cap.
Yeah, nice one. I knew guys back when pct valves were new who blocked them off cursing that emissions crap the way we curse Chinese crap today. I don’t remember but I think most of them knew enough to vent the engine as had been done previously. I wouldn’t be afraid to take it out and warm it up and punch it repeatedly to encourage the rings to reseat some and perhaps be less gummed up.
A lot of guys would have chalked that smoke up to just being an old engine but you caught a big issue there.
He noticed excessive blowby. Everything else followed logically. The kind of people you mentioned are just lazy
@@robertmoffett3486or inexperienced.
Just because people don’t know everything like apparently everyone in the comments, doesn’t mean they’re lazy. Hilarious.
When you dismiss things, you miss things. Absolutely right.
I've learned that on older cars. When you replace a part. Always keep the old one. For many reasons. Maybe value or originality. Maybe for reference. Maybe to rebuild. Or maybe it wasn't the problem to begin with.
This is why I keep watching UTG. I love it!
I love these videos, real problems on real cars, it so useful for someone to learn the little details needed to keep an old rig running
Actually, it's usually safe to assume that previous owners, mechanics etc. didn't know what they were doing. So it's a good idea to have a look at things that were "fixed" before it got to you.
Yup, if the last person(s) didn't fix it, you can not assume they did everything right, made proper measurements, interpreted test results correctly, etc.
I have bought 2 carbs for small engines from China. Both have worked perfectly!
Eventually you get to a point where the parts catalogs in the auto parts store don't go as far back as the year the car was built.
And that's when it's time to always bring the old part in.
One of the funny things about old stuff is... you might want to stash away old catalogs - it varies company to company. Accel used to sell different ignition kits for example.... what was inside? Better have a catalog to look it up.
Yes sir and as Uncle Tony pointed out carburetors are used in many various applications and it pays to keep all the old gaskets for comparison when installing a carburetor and even then if one doesn't pay attention one can install the wrong base gasket (as in this case) and inject a new problem and therefore blame the part they just installed.
It's not just a lack of old catalog listings---it's combined application listings that hurt more.
Watching you do this and explaining the reasons and seeing how you enjoy doing this stuff reminds me of a person that is longer with us it reminds me of him
i Put 1 on my old 258 jeep and except for the electronic choke ( wired open and 2 pumps starts and idles) it is running better than it ever did with the carter. I Put an HEI on it as well. Good Video. I think I have 70 for the carb and 80 on the HEI. So a whole new ignition and fuel system for about 150.00 is amazing really.
I have bought 2 Chinese Weber clone carbs, and they are made nicer than the real Italian ones I have dealt with in the past.
What 'brand' are they marketed as? I am curious to see what they make.
Yeah no , also they are made in spain and not in italy since 90s
@@dazaspc They moved the factory to Spain due to strikes etc.
My '77 Pontiac Astre Iron Duke 4 banger has a progressive linkage 2 bbl. Weber carb. made by Rochester under license from Weber... gives 28 MPG City and 34 MPG Hiway, extremely high MPG for mid 1970's... unheard of in early 1970's...
@@BuzzLOLOL great mech secondary performance carb for a lot of 4 cyl engines.
I fell in a similar trap, putting a kit in an AFB, I matched up the used bowel gasket with the similar one in the kit, there were about 3 variations available. Someone in the past had used the wrong gasket, and the car ran fine as long as you didn't get into the secondaries, when it would fall on it's face.
That was an awesome catch Tony! Thanks for the video and keep them coming, I'm always learning something from you!
What a great catch Tony! You are gifted with the wonderful trait of CURIOSITY! This undoubtedly had led you to many discoveries over the decades.Certainly added to my education just now Uncle Tony. Thanks for that, Sir!
Chuck in Florida
This was more along the line of experience and deductive reasoning than curiosity, once he pulled the hose off the carb and there was no change it moves to the next thing in line, the carb, after that it moves to gasket, then manifold, to newbie it may seem to be curiosity but to a mechanic it's just steps of the diagnostic procedure.
Brass L.inkert carb floats for Harley WL's from India with so much solder they won't float .......yeah .......
That was the late 80's
Well at least they didn’t saturate and fall apart ..
Thanks for the reminder! I've been bit by the assumption bug several times (self inflicted).
Most recently was my current Ford. Was chasing a gremlin for weeks. It ran but was inefficient, stumbly idle, plugs were lean, etc. I started firing the parts cannon at it, didn't improve. No vac leaks, all the grounds were addressed, driving me nuts. Driving home from the shop one night I let it warm up then pulled over and popped the hood to check my latest replacement part - the #8 plug wire was arching to the manifold - ?! Next day I ohm tested the wire and it failed, ALL of them failed, including the coil! I made the mistake of assuming the wires were good without testing them. Never again! It's those simple things that can be easily overlooked (at least for guys like me).
First day of Auto shop class the teacher writes ASSUME on the board and tells us to write down what it means to us... After 10 minutes he goes to the board and draws lines through the word ASS/U/ME and said when you assume you will make an ASS out of you and me!
That always stuck with me
Thanks Danny Caldwell!
Andy
had to laugh at this comment....first day of "woodshop" class New Providence HS in 1972 my shop teacher laid out the same advice, remember it to this day, HA! Thanks Fred Dimuccio! Oh yeah... hope you got that finger sewn back on too!
Awesome catch Tony...I wonder how many mechanics would have figured that one out, even those well-versed in carburated engines. As for that $80 carb, putting politics aside for a minute, keep in mind that China has a space station and a rover on Mars right now. They ARE capable of making high quality stuff...
China is capable of making high quality stuff. It all comes down to those who want something manufactured in China, how much they want to pay for their product, to what they will get.
And guess who's funding China? And yes they are capable of making quality products just like any other countries! The problem is there are too many people with the GET RICH QUICK mindset of LET'S HAVE CHINA PRODUCE IT mentality. Let's face it China produced that carburetor for $3.00 in a slave shop by workers making $.25 an hour for 12 hours per day. But we pay closer to $100.00 for the carburetor. Do I have to continue? I'm 66 and know what a hard day's work is!
@@MrToranaGuy Yeah, but in a lot of cases you don’t have a choice. If the made in China part is the only one available I will buy a Chinese made part. I ordered two relays for my C4 Corvette. I thought I was smart and ordered OEM ones. The correct AC/Delco box, but once opened up I noticed ‘Made in China’. Same thing with a Raybestos brake hose. All fine parts, but there is basically no way to avoid it. At least we can keep our cars on the road.
Not really
You are 100% correct. Worked for a company that made poly coated fabric. We got the fabric from China. And they could make cheap fabric or really good fabric. It's was whatever we wanted. So ya, you ask for junk you will get it. The real issue is how they treat and pay their workers. Dog poo. That is the only way they can compete with the rest of the world.
as a lover of old cars, im just glad at least someone somewhere are still making parts to keep old cars going
Back in the old days (the 60s) when we suspected carbon or sludge on the rings (or lifters), we'd take either Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF and run it in the crankcase for a few hundred miles, drain the oil, change the filter, replace and run. Wasn't a cure all necessarily, but about as often as not, it would clean up exhaust or quiet noisy lifters. Cheap and easy.
Then run Shell Rotella fleet engine oil, it's made for heavy duty gas as well as diesel engines and has a lot of detergents. Change the oil filter before 1000 miles, because if the engine is really coked up, all that gunk will go to the filter. The oil is safe to run and has stronger anti wear additives, though I've heard they've been cutting those a bit. Best of all, the oil is usually cheaper by the gallon.
Yes sir and in the old days of road draft tubes what one would do is to remove the road draft tube and pour a little gasoline on it (of course it is isolated from any flammable containers, duh!!!!) and lit it off to burn out the built up carbon in the tube in order to clean it out. Remember this; this was back when motor oils were no as good and were not changed at regular intervals and also the mindset that you never changed the oil (try working on one of those sludge bucket engines). The modern (actually came into beings in the late forties) PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system has a big bearing on oil consumption and rings clogging, especially the oil rings that can get clogged up just as the old road draft tubes did) I did not realize this myself until a man that ran an automotive machine shop explained to me the design of the PCV system. Clears up a lot of mysteries about oil consumption.
We still do that in the now days, diesel or ATF in the oil and we mostly just let them idle with it with the occasional throttle flick to check progress
For a first pass you might try a milder approach of spinning on a fresh filter and topping off with ATF, then go practice high speed highway entrances for a couple hours, noting the smoke level. Sometimes a good wide open 0-80 or two is all it takes.
Back in the day a friend of mine who a good basic mechanic would suggest adding a quart of transmission fluid to the gas tank(with each fill up mind you) and that would help lubricate the intake guides and also help with the carbon buildup. He also used the application of dripping transmission fluid into the carburetor for cleaning the carbon out of the engine. In fact I had completely forgot about that because it was back in the seventies.
Take a lap Uncle Tony. No feeling better than finding and fixing a problem like that. You told it to the people who really appreciate that kind of find. I find stuff sometimes. But when I tell my wife… she just lookscc be at me with a blind stare. I have to get hold of my cousins or brother before the find can be properly appreciated. Nice catch.
I feel you on that blind uninterested stare as you tell the greatest story ever
Same here . Wife could care less
Should change the name of the channel to Dr. Tony's garage. Seriously, the guys like a doctor.
I've been running a cheap Chinese toyota 3k carb in my suzuki samurai for like a year with no real dramas apart from being a little small for it.
Not bad for 110$ considering the only "factory replacement is 1300$ from india and in my experience, parts from India for this car are hit and miss anyway.
Good investigational wisdom Tony!
I think I'd give a dose of seafoam, over time it can, will get the majority of the oil gack and a lot of the carbon out of that old 318. It worked well on my '87 318.
You know how we spell assume. And you are right about the whole field of auto repair as it takes a detective to dig down and find the root cause of the problem. And it takes a big person to admit that it is not always the "cheap Chinese" junk that is causing the problem. I recently replaced a starter on my pickup with a NAPA Remanufactured unit that had the sticker "a product of Mexico" and it had all of the specifications and checks made on that starter. I installed it and the amazement at listening to a like new starter. I had a time constraint here and went with the most efficient and cost effective method and this filled the bill. So far so good.
The Mexico reman starters/alternators seem hit or miss, make sure it turns smooth and have them test it in store before leaving, they've all worked for me if I do that extra quality control work.
Good advice Tony! Don't assume anything! In my early career & training I learned: :Trust but verify" Which meant double-cheak everything, includung a trainee work! I ignored that last advice in an engine test facility. I asked him did you switch those oil line valves Back to the Run position? Yes, he said. I could have taken 6 steps around the engine stand to Verify, but I did not & we toasted the bearings in 3 min. of warmup. I took full responsibility, because it was my job to Verify!
For cleaning the crankcase chemically, I would suggest a quart of Rislone Engine Treatment (extra detergents & gentle cleaners to run for 3K miles), plus 16 oz. of Marvel Mystery Oil. Both to be added at an oil & filter change, reduce the new oil by the 1.5 qts. the additives take up.
Tony, what's your favorite cleaners for a cruddy crankcase?? Thanks for your advice & channel !
I just worked on a Chinese made Rochester carburetor today, I think it had very rough handling in shipping. It looked fine, put it on a Chevy inline 6, fired it up and it was dumping fuel everywhere. pulled it off and opened it up, the needle had popped out of it's fitting and had jammed the Float all the way down, letting the fuel just free flow. Put everything back the right way and now it works fine.
GOOD advice! I've seen so many people who are constantly messing things up like this...
Bought the same carb for my 68 fury 3 , it looks pretty good honestly, thanks again for all these good explications , long time fan here , since your beginnings!
Give this a try.
It worked for a guy who bought a mint little old ladies car.
It drive fine in town but would sputter and smoke at 40+ mph.
He pulled the plugs and shot a bunch of STP treatment in there. Let it sit for about a week. With the plugs out and rags handy to catch the mess, crank it over, blow out any fluids. Install plugs and see what happens.
It loosened the rings in that car, might work for you too.
BG has an oil cleaning system the owner can have done to clean up the engine internals if there is a carbon / sludge issue. There are a couple YT videos of it being used to clean up some really nasty engines.
Gotta make sure the cooling system is in top condition before BG
I almost bought one of the Chinese BBD's to replace an original that seriously needed the throttle shaft rebushed, but instead I used a 1979 Holley 2280 in place of the 1968 BBD. The Holley has the same footprint as the BBD and was an easy rebuild from my parts stash. The only thing that wasn't a perfect match was the choke rod. I put an electric choke kit from Mike's Carburetor in place of my original and using both the thick and thin intake manifold gasket from my rebuild kit for everything to function correctly and it's been great ever since. But it looks like I could have bought the new BBD and kept going or even just swapped the throttle plate over to my original BBD.
That’s what I have been trying to teach my son, don’t assume anything. I’ve been a mechanic for a long time, he’s still learning. Test, check, prove.
We've had quite a few customers who want their twin Su carbs replacing with chinese copys that they have bought off the internet. They are usually cheap thin cast and shoddy engineered, not to mention a hell of a lot more expensive than having the originals reconned.
It's been a long time since you've said 'Gaaaked'! You're awesome, Tony!
[Most] Chinese stuff has done a complete about-face since the 80's in my opinion. You just have to find the ones made on a Wednesday. Good stuff Tony. Keep up the good work.
Nope it's all crap!!!!!
I agree. I'm going through that now with the monte carlo ss I purchased in September. I found many different problems with it. From the wrong spark plugs, wrong carburetor, starter, spark plug wires, etc, etc.. I Love the challenge though. Happy motoring!😊
Marvel Mystery Oil and Seafoam! Maybe it'll clear up within an oil change
Beat me to it. I was just going to say that 'this sounds like a candidate for some heavy Seafoam treatment.'
This video is making me double check if the gasket I have for my 4 barrel swap will work properly with the carb I picked up. Figured I'd save the money since the gasket is on the shelf of the garage, but now I'll be checking just in case
Hey UT Firebird here
I've had really good luck with chinesium small carbs on mowers and chainsaws.
Got a cheap Chinese bbd carb on my Jeep. Starts and runs as it should.
HEY OWNER 👋🏻 CLEAN AND REBUILD THAT ENGINE!
Good catch Tone!!
European Tune Up. Launch that convertible Satellite on the Highway and Blast out the internals.
Italian
Ha ha only people of a certain age get that...myself included. I like both terms used as well. We just used to say I'm blasting out the carbon for improving fuel efficiency
Or "blowin' the soot out."
Sometimes those holes/passages in bottom of carburetor are for vacuum to reach power valve, in which case it will run rich without proper gasket. Great videos!!!!
BBD doesn't have a power valve. But maybe on Holley's yes?
I’ve had that happen with chainsaws many times. I’ll buy them for little or nothing cause they’re not running and normally somebody else has tried to get them running and failed so I gotta go through and figure out what’s supposed to be there and what’s not. A lot of those carb kits look very similar but they aren’t.
Thanks Unko! Great catch
Thanks
COOP
...
Just imagine the new list of parts the untrained would possibly have thrown at that, without discovering that very small, but significant issue. Nice pickup Tony, and yes, for the record, I would have blamed the carby too 🤣
I don't think this car will make it to Kiwis anytime soon...l think the owner is going to be driving it every day when they see how effortlessly the car performs after leaving your shop 😎
good job tony.that 318 will clear right out with a few heat cycles and drive time.thanx for the info always right on the money
I once ordered a carb rebuild kit for a Carter BBD, and yes it did come with that gasket, as well as another with the same opening as the correct gasket, but was as thin as the wrong gasket...I ended up having to stack the gasket due to the same problem.
Just a couple of points: 1). Cars were around for a long time befor the pcv was introduced. Mopar's got it in 1963. 1967 the epa *(imposter branch of the gov.) made it a law. With today's oil, no pcv is no issue for crank case sludge. If you never run it long enough to warm it up, just change the oil. 2). That engine came w/ a Bbd 2bbl, where is it? It's about the simplest carb ever, no hidden wells or passages. Spray it out with today's carb cleaner using the provided straw and it'll be like new unless it's got over a million miles on it and the thrt shft bushings are gone. The trickiest part is setting the float level, as the needle and seat are in the inlet fitting, so you have to watch how far it screws in when you tighten it up. If you have all the parts, including the float pivot shaft bail, you can run it with the top off to see the float level. * The EPA is unconstitutional. Congress spota make the laws in this land, not EPAs. OK, gotta go. ben/ michigan
OK UNCLE TONY GREAT ADVICE 👍
I just so happened to find a split over an inch long on a vacuum line, running from my power steering to the front of my intake plenum ( fuel injected Toyota 3RZ in my 2000 Tacoma 4x4 ), but it was hidden on the very bottom of the line. The only way I discovered it was by feeling underneath it with my fingers. I knew something wasn't right, because it was bogging like crazy. Damned thing runs like brand new now.......all over a bad vacuum line only 8" long. Lesson learned: don't rely only on visual inspections of vacuum lines. Run the entire length of them with your fingers to find hidden splits & cracks underneath that ya can't see. It's also the only way to detect if any vacuum line has become hard & brittle ( by squeezing the line ), which will start getting tiny cracks. Often times, it's the littlest, simplest things that can be the source of the problem. Now I know I don't need a valve adjustment, lol. Made my day.
I have been using the BG EPR oil additive in old engines to help clean the carbon out of the rings with really good success. I'm getting ready to tear down a 200k mi engine that I did the treatment to last summer, hoping I it shows clean...
Great determination to find out a problem.
hey uncle tony,this is off topic but relates to something you had trouble with in the past,CAM ISSUES,my friend and i have been back yard mechanics for friends,we are both older than you,i had a cam lobe go bad on my camaro,thought it was me,until my friend got a comp cams flat tappet cam and lifters,guess what,yup,so he phones comp tells them what is wrong the cam failed and the lobes are off,reason it failed, by comp,he didnt break it in right,he didnt rev it high enough,he had poor oil pressure,he didnt get it hot enough,the chrome headers are blue from heat,then they tell him he should have gotten a roller cam,what and where is the pride in american made gone?oh right it is in china,ps we is Canadian from chinada,not a comp fan anymore,we may have a couple years on you but we are alike when it comes to cars,you dodge,him ford,me chev,and there is about 20 guys we know have had cam failures
Great job Tony!🤩🤩
Stumbled on this channel, subscribed. Love the content!
Get good and warm and trickle distilled water through the carb it will steam clean the valves and ring or a bottle of Berrymans might help hopefully it did hurt the rings but the 318 is a tuff Lil engine so it might be fine.
I remember when I first met one of my girlfriends, she asked me to look at her car because it was “making weird noises”. Turns out she didn’t change the oil for 50k. We ran a litre of ATF through it for 100k twice, change the PCV valve and blow out the line. Somehow it still managed to run another 6 years
Nicely done, UT.
I had good results running the PCV hose into the power brake hole on the manifold if there were no power brakes. I did this the first time on a my fresh 273 63 V100 with edelbrock hi rise and Holley 600 w/ TRWforged 10.5 to one and Crower 290 degreecam, cyclone fenderwell exit headers cam with no port for the the smog . I got pulled over for loud exhaust and the cop popped my hood and said " The people of California don't take kindly to willful removal of a smog device". My best friend's mom, the court clerk swore me in having explained we were having a lawyer fill in for a sick judge. I told him I was a college boy using the car for school and we put in an engine that originally had no smog which was true. He Harrumphed a few times and said "In the interest of justice , Case dismissed. Lucky 18 year old in 1972 was I!
Good job! Those BBD carbs indeed take a specific gasket. No idea you could get a new one. I got a box of them to rebuild for my slant 6 and other projects
I bought a chinese knock off of a Ford 2 bbl carb to replace the 2bbl variable venturi carb on my car. Have not installed yet but I hope it will work well.
Wow, thought I was the last person in the world running a vv. Hold on to the old one. They're really great once you get the hang of keeping them in alugnment.
@@sometimesleela5947 You will have to tell me how that is done.
Nice lesson to learn Tony!
The Chinese Quadrajet we tried worked amazingly well , and it was $150 !
I got one for my dodge truck actually works ok my old one was too far gone to fix
Dump a half gallon of diesel into the block. Idle for 30 minutes and drain the oil and filter. Go get the cheapest oil and filter. Do oil and diesel again for 30 minutes at idle. Drain the pan leaving the drain plug off for 15 minutes to make sure everything poured out. Now put the drain plug back in and add some good oil and filter. Drive light to normal no heavy exceleration for 100 miles. Then change the oil and filter again. Then drive for 1000 miles and change your oil again. Then things should be okay to drive 2500 between oil changes. Note to everyone. I'm an idiot you do this at your own risk!!
Great and simple but very effective advice🙏🏻🙏🏻🍻
Uncle Tony is a national treasure, great video . Cheers
The back story on this Cadillac is also unique!
Rule of thumb: Single barrel carbs are for 4 cylinders. 2 barrel carbs are for 6 cylinders. 4 barrels (Or more) are for 8 cylinders.
Have you ever gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel? You should try it sometime.
It's a good thing God gave us more than one thumb. The air/fuel needs have a lot more to do with the application than the # of cylinders. There's a reason most V8s came with 2 bbls from the factory; for a slow-revving workhorse in a truck, or a family car, they are simple and reliable under a wide range of atmospheric conditions, and a 4 bbl (or even a bigger 2 bbl) wouldn't make the engine more effective at what it's meant to do. It's the same reason most inline sixes came with 1-bbl carbs. By the same token, you can take an inline six like a 300 Ford or a Chrysler slant, build in more compression, more cam, and more exhaust, and it will go like hell with a 4-bbl - remember, that Ford six is bigger than some V8s. But you wouldn't have much fun with it in a dump truck. Then we get to the 4-cylinders. Today, even a sad little 1.6 litre can make 200 horsepower with a turbo (and fuel injection) and haul around a family sedan. But you can build something like a 2.3 Ford like from a Ranger to make a lot of power with a carb; people do. One popular choice seems to be about a 500-CFM 2-bbl that wouldn't be a bad fit for a big, slow-revving V8 in a dump truck (Holley makes up to a 500 2-bbl but there are Autolite 2100s up to 424 cfm that Ford used on big V8s in the 70s). But at that point, with as many RPM, a 4-bbl could work just as well or even better on your little 4-cylinder. So, where's your other thumb?
There’s a pretty good ac delco fuel injector cleaner that cleans up carbon pretty well, worked pretty good a sticky valve, mitigated it, still had to tear down.
I like the 72 Coronet in the background.
To touch a carb you need a state carb certificate Fed required ( only dealerships and a dedicated fuel shop can acquire it)
Or its tampering
Nice catch.
love this car my dad has been looking for a convertible satellite a while they are few and far between in northern states
Don’t assume is the best advice for anyone, especially mechanics
Im so used to the pcv rattling away it probably would have made me check it. Or I could have been oblivious lol. I know the one on my 85 d150 with the 318 is noisy as hell.
Great content
And the BBD for the slant super 6 has it's own gasket too!
I don't see a way to add pictures or videos, but I have one of those china carbs - $67(?) On a d300 318 w torque cam - 4.56 rear, and I have pulled 20,000 lbs with it (and that's not just a wild guess).....oh, that's with my custom hitch bolted to the top and bottom flange....
I have gotten Chinese carbs and stuff that I had to modify it to work, maybe because of a pattern, not sure. But there have been a few times. For example, Chinese replacement carbs for Japanese atvs. They also get trashed up really quick. But it will work if it's all you can find or afford. Definitely put a good fuel filter before a Chinese carb.
Risolone High milage treatment has helped me with stuck rings - may work, may not
A couple of years ago, my 1981 Troybilt Horse rototiller needed a new carb - it was worn out. I paid about $20 for a Chinese replacement. I put it on and it started on the first pull. Last year, I ran the gas out of the tank and let the engine run until it ran out. This Summer, I put gas in it and it started on the first pull. Yeah, I hate sending money to the enemy. But the alternatives just weren't there.
Alternatives are there, but they cost more. Buying American is a tough argument to sell when the cost is so much more, but what happens when what's left of American manufacturing is gone and the only jobs left are selling real estate and working for the government?
@@rcnelson I do try. Love it when I can find a made in USA product, but it's difficult in many cases. Then when you get it it says "Made in USA using global parts" Ugh.
Run Seafoam in the gas it will clean the engine out a lot. Also in the oil it will help break down goo.
Lol, yesterday, I was thinking, check the gasket. Been there done that😁
Maybe pouring ATF down the Carb and doing an old fashion burn Clean it some times work to free up things like Sticky stuff like rings and valves last ditch try before a good overhaul
Tell me about it! Last year I decided to renew the top part of the engine of my Mercury Cougar and the new carb gasket was too thin for a Performer RPM. I removed the intake manifold dozens of times, thinking the leak was between the heads and that part. If my brother didn't put his hand under the carb spacer,, which is hollow, I would never have the car working properly. The other gasket had been able to keep the car working properly for more than 30 years and it is just 1mm thicker.
Excellent
Never assume anything and don't overthink/overlook the easy basic checks
More and more, Im making my own gaskets. Just buy some gasket material and use old gasket as a template
Now I know why the gasket that was supplied with my Street Demon is an open-dump gasket.
Now if they'd only make an AFB with the small throttle plate for the factory 273 4bbl manifold sitting on my workbench, I'd be set.
Somewhere along the line somebody, instead of properly aligning the distributor gear, clocked the positions of the the spark plug wires over one position.on the cap.
My teacher at school would rev the engine and pour small amounts of water down the carb to blow the crud out.
Yeah, nice one. I knew guys back when pct valves were new who blocked them off cursing that emissions crap the way we curse Chinese crap today. I don’t remember but I think most of them knew enough to vent the engine as had been done previously. I wouldn’t be afraid to take it out and warm it up and punch it repeatedly to encourage the rings to reseat some and perhaps be less gummed up.
Bg products epr109 can help with cleaning the crankcase and carbon build up on the rings