So I have recently ran into a problem after dailying my 79 for about a week. Ran pretty well until the end of the week. 26 mile morning drive went flawless but when i went to lunch the engine started to cam.... I know that isn't possible because it is a rotor but that is the best way to describe the sound. The rpms would not climb when i applied the gas it almost seemed to be bogged down. The car died and could not be started again. I went out a few hours later and after a lot of pedal pushing she started but blew smoke out of the rear for a good 5 minutes. Has not lost any power so i dont think it is the Apex seal from what i read about them.

I am just not sure what could have caused it seeing how it ran fine before and has ran fine after except for today when it did the same thing but did restart and ran fine..

Please help save my baby.

 

Without knowing more than you've said, I'm going to say your carb has some junk quality aftermarket needles and seats, which leads to flooding. The excessive fuel in the engine caused the oil to get washed off and blew out the tailpipe as smoke. The engine will probably be fine.

Someone replaced the good quality still working OEM needles and seats with the poorly machined garbage quality ones from a rebuild kit. This is a common problem as all rebuild kits these days have the improperly machined seats. It's an industry wide problem.

The solution is to keep an eye on it and hope it doesn't happen again. Or you could order a set of new OEM ones but then you have to be able to get into the carb and change them. You also have to be sure that this is the actual problem and not an FPR related one.

 

Definitely a flooding issue. Engine is probably fine, what Jeff said.

 

I have a guy who does carb work that I can take the carb to. In the mean time I am going to revamp the whole fuel system. the PO put a (weber?) race pump under it, so I am going to probably take that out they also added a regulator. I am probably gonna pull the tank nd lean it as well since I have to replace the sending unit soon.

 

Smoke could've been it finally starting after being flooded. I would suggest checking the distributor points and their gap if you still have the 79 distributor. I had similar problems until I switched to an S2 distributor.

 

Before adding any go fast parts, perform a compression test. Adding any parts that make the engine work harder will only strain the engine. I do however agree with the others that there was some momentary flooding. Check the condition of the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. Ensure they are all in good working order. Have the carb rebuilt to be safe and enjoy that 7!

 

Don't remove the OEM needles and seats.

 

I have found out the engine has been swapped. The 12a in it now s out of like an 83 or 84.. after removing the tank I have found good bit of sediment in the bottom so I am having that cleaned. while I am at it I will make sure the lines are clear and figure out why I have two fuel filters under the car and remove the one not being used. I do still need to go ahead and replace the plugs and check the distributor.

 

You need to listen to what Jeff20B is saying and tell your carb guy DO NOT TOUCH THE NEEDLES AND SEATS. What he's trying to tell you is that any aftermarket rebuild kit will have crappy quality needles and seats and if you remove the originals and replace them - that carb will never work correctly again.

Good luck on the rest, and I agree with these guys that blowing smoke after you do get it started is due to flooding. When it won't start - try pull starting it with another vehicle (safely), as that will usually get it running immediately.

 

I agree. Aftermarket needles will stick like mad. I rebuilt one about 6-7 years ago using aftermarket needles and it had random flood out problems. It would flood while driving. I took some 2000 grit sandpaper and wd40 to the stock needles and problem solved.

 

So no carb rebuild got it. Is there any solvent recommended to run through the carb to help clear any gunk out? I have used seafoam already (well a while ago). I didnt know if running higher octane for a little while would cause a detonation issue or not.

 

No, they are saying to rebuild it, just to NOT use the needle and seat that come with the kit

 

The baseplate gasket is terrible as well. It's best to use it as a template on some thicker paper and cut your own. As for the airhorn gasket, it can be used but the screw holes usually don't up so you need to carefully repunch them.

The only parts I ever use from a rebuild kit are the airhorn gasket after careful attention to the screw holes, the accel pump diaphragm after cutting out some extra gaskets for doing the accel pump mod for increased shot duration and volume, and the sight glass window o-rings and gaskets, which again need to be trimmed a bit to fit right. Then there are some useful little parts like cotter pins and the steel checkballs in some kits which are ok to use. Also the copper crush washers are good after annealing. Some of the aluminum crush washers are pretty terrible and need to be sanded flat if you want to use them.

All aftermarket rebuild kits are terrible but there are some parts you can't live without like the accel pump diaphragm etc.

 

I took the carb apart and cleaned everything inside, it was pretty nasty.

Car now has fuel.

Now it needs plugs, the top and bottom plugs are different sizes, is that normal? the plugs i ordered for it are all one size. They seem to be pretty large plugs too. the top ones in the car are small

 

I think you need to consider what was going on in the gas tank too, otherwise you are fixing "effects" not the "cause". If the tank was full of crud it will need to be cleaned. 79's do not have a drain plug so you may have to consider dropping the tank and getting it professionally cleaned at a rad shop. Even then, if the tank is corroding inside, a further step of RELINING it will be recommended. POR15 (for eg.) makes a tank cleaning/relining kit for about $35. Otherwise you may be back where you started after all the hard work on the carby.

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

[QUOTE=7aull;12089411]I think you need to consider what was going on in the gas tank too, otherwise you are fixing "effects" not the "cause". If the tank was full of crud it will need to be cleaned. 79's do not have a drain plug so you may have to consider dropping the tank and getting it professionally cleaned at a rad shop. Even then, if the tank is corroding inside, a further step of RELINING it will be recommended. POR15 (for eg.) makes a tank cleaning/relining kit for about $35. Otherwise you may be back where you started after all the hard work on the carby.

I have already dropped the tank and filled it with evaporust which seems to have done a good job at cleaning the tank out. I had not thought about lining it. I will have to look into that. Right now I am stuck on the plugs and I cant do much to the tank since it is full because I cleaned it and thought I was good to go only to find that the carby was clogged.




There is no way to get a socket on the plug to get it out

 

Nevermind. Hammer and screw driver got the plug out.