Tri Power problems

I didn't find carb king but I did find that vintage speed is selling some on eBay for 200.00 plus shipping. So I could do that and add jets or whatever later as I figure out what I need.

 

Has anyone tried sanding or filing the plates until they seal properly? Or is that alot harder then it sounds?

 

From what Ive read some guys lap them and make it should easy and evidently works good. Then again Ive heard that some guys try it and it doesn't work. Between lapping and dag213 sealer I would think you could seal them. Part of my problem is the throttle shafts are worn so there's extra play in there. These things are old. So in my case, I could keep messing with these and maybe get them to work and save a buck, or maybe waste a bunch of time or buy new and be done. I'm leaning towards new. No worn shafts, plugged up passages, etc, etc....

 

Did you close them tight and then tighten the screws? that should center the the best in the bore and after tightening them, keep them in place.

 

Oh yeah, multiple times. Even got the thicker butterflies that have the angled edges to help seal better. And I definitely got it better than it was, actually real good, but not good enough. Still has air going by. Tried using jb weld to seal the edges and that worked, but only kinda, and that stuff isn't made for that.

 

If it was idling at 700, I would think you're getting much closer. Do you have a vacuum gauge?

 

This is the Carb King guy. He may be able to help you out? http://www.thecarburetorshop.com

 

Thanks. He lists a lot of stuff! I'm thinking the vintage speed ones for 200 are sounding pretty good. They're supposed to really seal up!!

 

Yes! I figured you could get jets and accelerator pumps from him if you need.

 

Ordered the baseplates from vintage speed. Hopefully they'll be here first part of the week next week!!

 

good luck!

 

Thanks!! The way its gone so far, I'll need some luck!! Or maybe just a few more beers!

 

Woohoo!! Got new baseplates on UPS today. They look nice, definitely no light coming through and I like the built in return spring. I'll get them installed tonite or tomorrow night. Have to work on my linkage some it looks like.....

 

That type of spring was a upgrade in 1958 on Tri-power GM. The 57 uses a long pull spring hooked to a pin sticking out on the carb top.
.

 

Got the bases switched. Got em bolted back on and they made no difference at all..........TO THE IDLE!! Woohoo!! I can cover them both up and it changes nothing. I haven't got my linkage put back together so I don't know what'll happen when I open them up. Tried them first with no fuel going to them and then with fuel hooked up, made no difference! Kick ass!!

On a different note, I noticed that I've got a couple, three maybe, cylinders that are definitely not firing like the others. The header tubes aren't nearly as hot anyway. This is with it running for maybe 10-15 minutes in the garage while I was jacking with the carbs. I swapped out some plugs, might have helped slightly. Could it just be the nature of this homemade intake I have? Seems like the plug wires are good. It doesn't feel like its causing a noticeable miss.

 

Got all set to take it around the block tonite!! Tires aired up, lug nuts tight!! Even got it warmed up. Then realized I was about out of gas. So I decided that was a bad idea. What I did do was pull it out of the garage, back and forth a couple times. Giving it gas when I was pulling it out, it did pop a couple times. I'm going to dbl check the float levels tomorrow,,hope that helps. Beyond that, I don't know. Maybe it is the intake? Once its warmed up a little it idles good, revs good, except for those couple pops pulling out of the garage!! Thoughts? I don't want to have to swap intakes and carbs until its a last resort.

 

Ok. "Assuming" for the time being, that the intake is okay, what should I be trying?- Ive got it running good, in neutral, revs, sounds good. When I give it gas to move it in and out of the garage, I get popping through the carb. Ive taken off the end carbs, again, so its just the center. Timing advanced to much, or retarded too much? Bigger jets in the carb? Both? Something else?

 

If the timing and ignition system condition checks out you may have a lean back fire. Make sure that the accelerator pump is giving you enough of a shot of fuel. If you have longer than normal intake runners and/or a tortuous path for the fuel to travel in your homemade intake you'll need a bigger shot of fuel than normal. Got more pics of your intake set up?

 

That makes sense. If I ease into it, it seems to be okay. The intake doesn't have long runners, but it isn't the smoothest most direct route for the fuel either. Thanks!

 

Irregular fuel distribution would explain why the header tube Temps vary. Port injected EFI manifolds were never designed to carry fuel along with the air. The set up you have is neat but you may have to find a conventional tri - power manifold to get it running really right.

 

Neat was what I was going for, but it still needs to run okay. Wonder if I'd have better luck NOT running progressive linkage....? Then I would need to work on less accelerator pump shot because I think it would be too much all at once. Just a thought.

 

So today I decided I would focus on getting it to start and stay running better than it has been. I readjusted the mixture screws. I started unscrewing them, and kept going. I swear I had it adjusted so it was running the best. However when I started unscrewing them to richen it up, which I didn't think it needed at all, it started starting and running better without having to mess with the idle so much. So that was good. Then I retarded it just a hair, still no timing light..... Running good, so I took it around the block!! Short drive, not fast, only got into 2nd gear, I didn't want to push my luck. Did fine, no popping, seemed like it had power. So THEN, I decided that if I advanced it a little, it would have more power. Well that was a bad idea. Back to popping. Tried to take it for another spin, just barely got out of the driveway, and then back in the driveway. Bad, bad, bad. Of course I couldn't get it back exactly where it was. Then I was getting hungry and hot, so I stopped.

 

Do you have a vacuum gauge hooked up while you're tuning?

 

I did initially. I don't remember the numbers, but it seems like I got the vacuum the smoothest and highest and called it good. I should check it again now just to see what's what.

 

Also, borrow a timing light! Try to eliminate guess work! You'll get there!

 

Okay, got a timing light! Next question is about the timing tab. I'm not sure what year engine its off and Ive got a Ford Motorsports balancer on it that I got from a guy at work. Using the light, the 0 mark on the balancer is way down under the round thing on the bottom part of timing tab. Evidently not the right tab? When I put the distributor in I got it to tdc and went from there. So now I'm back to not really knowing where I am.

 

I'll let someone else answer that. Not familiar with your setup. You could bring #1 cylinder to top dead center on compression stroke and see where the mark on the balancer is at, then either move your timing tab or get another one.

 

I brought the rotor around to pointing at 1, made a pencil mark on the balancer and used that as my 0. Maybe not super accurate I guess, but it's something.

 

Should work decent enough. What's it read?

 

Seemed like it was best at about 6-7°. But THEN I decided to make a piston stop to find TDC for sure and then mark it and try again. So I did that and TDC as far as I could tell from my little stop, put the rotor about a terminal away from where it was, AND my marks lined up. 0 on the balancer lined up with the tab! With it like that though it ran like ass, popping and banging, so I put it back where it was. Then I found one of the end carbs leaking, so I jacked with that for a while, still leaking, and I called it a night.