Projects High compression heads worth it?

well I haven't checked, maybe a bird stuffed some twigs in there, i'll shine a flashlight down there when I get home. I need to go get gas again though. I have a locking gas cap as well I bought off one of the guys at the motorcycle shop just in case. There's no way it leaked out over the 1 day I was out of town

 

Just to ad a note. May be a little hard getting John W Lawsons book. He passed away a few months ago. Never be any more.

 

Just because the writer is dead doesn't have to have any effect on reprinting the books. Which is good for anyone who likes to read classic litterature, the bible or anything else written long ago.

 

Good on ya Rex. Keep at it. If I missed you checking the compression, I apologize.
Sure, the carb needs to be right, but without some cylinder pressure, she won't make power.
If I were you (a 16 year old kid in HS working part time) I'd do a compression test and see where she sits. One of the earlier posts noted 140psi in each cylinder. Where is your motor compression wise? That blowby can be a non factor or an issue. My first car was a worn out ex highway patrol car I paid $250 of my own hard-earned money at the tender age of 16. My money, not gift money.
I tried everything to wake up the tired engine. I was hoping the rings were just stuck in the ring lands and some heat cycles and shade tree tricks would get them to seal again. Nope. Smoked like a freight train. You said yours only smokes at startup, so you are better off than I was. I'd still do a compression check right away.
In my case, I (being nearly broke and in HS) ended up leaving the engine in the car and did a hone and re-ring job on it. Worked great, very low cost. Made better power and no blue smoke wherever I went.
If you get the carb nailed and have solid compression, then think about the angle mill of the heads. I just had some milled .070" for $100 locally.

 

You want to build your engine to run on 87 octane not 93. One thing all us old SOBs learned in the seventies and eightys was you don't need to run 11 or 12 compression to make good power. 9 is were its at.
Dual carbs are a pain in the ass also. Either run a two barrel or a four barrel.
If this engine runs decent now leave the deep parts alone and give it a good tune up with a valve adjustment.
Check for vacuum leaks.
Make sure the fuel pump is getting fed. Gas line with holes in it will not leak fuel it will suck air in and the engine will run like crap.
Make sure the brakes are not dragging and holding you back.

Check out all the little things. Stay away from the glitter and glamer parts.

 

Yeah I still gotta make the long trip to the gas station and back with the gas can first, if I ever catch the guy who siphoned that gas i'm gonna kill him. Yeah I worked hard for that money, some of it was old birthday money but most of it was from doing odd jobs (shoveling snow, office boy, etc.) my neighbor keeps complaining about it being an "eyesore" and the seats are "obscene" what does he know anyway he's a new york hipster who just moved here I'll check the compression soon

 

For $800 you could yank the flatty and put a small block in it. Or maybe a nailhead or an olds motor. I'm a flathead guy...but I don't build them for performance I build them because it's more convenient for me to throw away Money at home than going all the way to Vegas.

 

No way man

 

Damn, I’m sorry to hear of his passing. I had his book many years ago, I loaned it out and haven’t seen it since.

 

Updates:

Fiddled with it today, the gas wasn't gone the car was just being wacky because now it's fine.

I got it idling really smooth, you have to rev it a lot before it goes to a smooth idle. You have to keep it revved high until that smooths out then slowly let it back down to idle for it to be nice, quiet and smooth. But then if you even do so much as touch the gas pedal it immediately stalls. Strange, but progress.

Do remember it's been a while since I started it (until today) and it's cold (the car was warmed up)

 

Do you have a mate with a known, reliable carb, that you can fit to your engine? It would narrow down the possibilities. I had a buddy come over the other night with a poorly running engine, he thought it was valve train or compression. I took the street demon off my Olds and stuck it on his intake, and it ran great. Problem solved...well not really, I took my carb back. He can find his own.

 

Unfortunately I don't, but I did take the carb apart before, nothing seemed out of place except for that the needle in the bowl got stuck sometimes