Well, an update. Swapped out the idle/transfer restrictions (richer) and changed the squirters (bigger). Had to fight the needle and seats, kept flooding. Bought a kit because the kit was 48 and a single needle and seat was 22. Fought some more, ended up pulling them and setting by eye. The height sticking out of the bowl is different. Precision parts... Finally got it running decent. Have the floats about a third of the way up the sight glasses. Wanted to run a bit lean to clear the motor. Idle mixtures need a bit less all around. about 5/8 instead of 3/4. Proves the restrictions are okay. Took it out. It's worse! Now has bigger, immediate bog and all speeds. It's also in the 40s, although I drove it before in these temps. Done for the day. I'll raise the float levels, and swap squirter cams - Pink to Blue and Green (only bought one cam kit). Hope that brings it back, otherwise the squirters need to be swapped back. At least it's running again, but not as well. Big hopes for tuning to fix. It might be partially fouled plugs, but once it catches up, it's hitting on all eight. Had to buy bolts not studs for the carbs and lost one of the studs too. If this doesn't get better, I'll go with the 50cc pumps, but hold off until next year's driving season. Have other things to buy over the winter. Would like to wood the body, finish the 'glass work and hope to get it much straighter. Maybe even paint.
So here's the deal. I got back from the drive frustrated. It barely made it around the block and was worse. Went out the next day (yesterday) and checked things. All 4 bowls were filled above the sight glass. There is no easy way to drain the bowls. Annoyed that I bought bolts not the unavailable studs and the whole make small change and go backwards... So all the needles and seats are not working right after I removed and worked on the carbs, even though I only cleaned things up and didn't mess with the float levels. Fuel System. Same old Beetle tank - No change from before when things worked. Have removed and installed a few times, no issue. Tank to pump hose - Changed a month back when I reinstalled the body and moved pump to better location. Fuel pump - same as always. Cheap small inline pump. Expected to upgrade later, but currently I have too much fuel, not a lack. Fuel hose from pump forward - same as always. Fuel filter - Changed when first bought, since old one leaked. Has had maybe 15 gallons thru it. Fuel inlet pipe and gauge - same as always, gauge shows low (3psi) pressure but I don't trust these cheap little pressure gauges. Has not changed. This was disconnected and laid on intake when carbs were removed. Didn't siphon. Put right back and tightened. No leaks. The rest of the system was not touched during this. EDIT: The spacers between the carbs and intake were removed and old gaskets reused. No vacuum leaks noted. Should not have affected the float issue. This is why old carbs studs were replaced. So either the pressure jumped at this exact time when the carbs were R&I, or there is now a bunch of crap in the system that keeps jamming the needle and seats. 2 were replaced, so it's not old parts. I plan on the following. Remove hose from inlet piping and use pump to empty tank and hoses into portable tank. Maybe run it through a few times (flushing) depending on how it looks coming out. Remove spark plugs and crank over engine to make sure they aren't full of gas. Spray some lube for the overwinter sitting. Remove and drain carbs. Will take them apart and recheck and clean. Will order the right studs so this crap will be right. I hated using bolts, but figured it would just go together and work. Sure bit me on that! So this will have to go on hiatus until spring. EDIT: I want to purchase a new windshield (800), gauges (couple hundred) for the new dash, wiring, wheels and tires, and body/paint supplies (couple hundred). I can't keep getting nickel and dimed trying to move forward but getting knocked back on these carbs. It would run better with a single 4 and intake, so this setup, while flashy, had better respond to efforts or it's getting tossed.
I have never totally solved bog problems on a tunnel ram while the power valves were still in the carbs, that's just my experience, came close with very low numbered 2.5 pvs but always seemed to work better without em
Thanks. I'm 2 steps back from that at the moment. The Demon on page 2 once sorted wouldn't take big hits below 1800 RPM, but above that it worked well. To be expected with the cam and TR. Had 45 power valves it that.
The 660 Holley 4224 center squirter tunnel carburetors came from the factory with the metering blocks blank where the power valves would screw in, they came with a 50-cc pump and a number 25 squirter if that helps. I changed mine over to center hung. bowls then run em sideways, much easier to change jets. If you do remove it don't forget to increase jets size 5-8 in the primary metering block when blocking it off.
Yes, I have heard of the 660s and blocking power valves. I have not done this myself, and don't have the hard numbers. However, while I understand that a power valve circuit has a difficult time operating properly with the vacuum curve present in a bigger cam, where idle vacuum is often 5-10 inches less than at say 2500 RPM, I don't subscribe to completely removing them and richening the entire RPM range that is fed by the mains (usually 1500-1800 and up). While this may work for acceleration contests, this car is going to be a docile around town ride (idle to 3000) with occasional short bursts of acceleration (rare to go beyond 4500 and for less than a couple seconds). This means a power valve will open at lower speeds when the throttle is opened (most common), but will probably close at higher RPM part throttle use (not going to be doing this much if at all). It will also stay open during all full throttle use (extremely rare) due to all of those barrels not creating much if any vacuum. I'd liken 660s and no power valves to running hilborns on the street. Yes, it has been done and can be done. It is fussy and usually lacks manners in normal use even after the learning curve. I'm not expecting the current setup to be EFI friendly to the driver, but I really don't want an on-off switch that's even worse, except the blip of the throttle or WOT use.
The Jalopy Journal
