Monterey or bust

[Bmachine]

Are you guys starting to see people lining up the roads to cheer you on? By now news of your expedition must have travelled to the heartland. I imagine it is total Tour De France pandemonium when you guys go through, right?

Can't wait to see those pictures.

 

[shanon]

Wheres the caravan on Tuesday?
Norcal to monterey train??

;-)

 

[Stevehose]

Unscrew the cover plate, there will be 4 screwed in tubes, 2 small and 2 large. Unscrew one of the large ones and pull the stack out. On the very bottom is the main jet and it should have anumber stamped into the side of it like 125, 130, 135, 140 etc.

#1 in pic:

It's at the far right in this pic:

And pulls out, should hae a number on the hexagonal crown:

In the meantime you may be able to get some more fuel for the hills by unscrewing your idle mixture screws (2 on each carb) by 1/4 or 1/2 turn, this will make you more rich at idle (not a big deal for highway) but might get you more fuel at speed. #4 in this pic.

I will bring my jets to the office today so give me an address and I will get them to you tomorrow.

Not really sure. Whatever they came with when I installed them 25 years ago. Can I read the size if I unscrew the inspection cover plate off the top?

 

[vince]

My driver side wiper came off in a heavy storm on the way to Amelia Island one year, fortunately it landed aganst the base of the window/hood and I was able to retrieve it. I've done the torrential rain/Rain-x deal too and it's no fun.

Must be the year for losing wipers. After no wipers issues for 12 years of ownership, I lost my drivers side this last winter (got caught in the rain going for a quick drive). I had no idea what a pain it would be to find one of the polished stainless ones.

Looks like a great trip, you guys deserve all the credit for driving that far. We're leaving Wednesday from Portland, can't wait! See you guys down there!

 

[TodB]

I swear everybody has a "my driver wiper blew off when I got caught in the rain story". I was able to find mine on the side of the road when it happened to me.

My Son lives in Boulder so if you need an address to ship stuff to, he can probably help out.

 

[Ohmess]

Hey Doug -- Topeka is only 1000' above sea level; according to my Pierce Manifolds Tuning Manual you shouldn't need to change jetting until you get to around 4000' above sea level.

When did you last change your fuel filter? If its been a while, I would consider that.

Do you have a gauge on your fuel line? What does it read? My Webers need only about 2lbs of pressure to run well and I'm told above 3lb and the float bowls will get too full.

If fuel pump and filter don't help, you may have a problem with the float level in one or more of your carbs. If your floats aren't set correctly, or if they are filled with fuel (which was a problem with the brass floats Weber used 25 years ago), this can allow the bowls to get too full.

In either case, too much fuel in the bowls displaces the air at the top of the fuel bowl which (if I understand this correctly) is used by the carb to push fuel into the air/fuel mix used to run the car.

 

[MyFemurHurts]

While it's not 100% applicable here, when I fly airplanes I run them full rich until 3,000 feet. If the carb is acting up at a low altitude, Id also look somewhere else.

 

[dang]

Hey Doug -- Topeka is only 1000' above sea level; according to my Pierce Manifolds Tuning Manual you shouldn't need to change jetting until you get to around 4000' above sea level.

Donner Summit on Interstate 80 in the Sierras is 7000 feet so he will feel the pain..

 

[adawil2002]

Today was the best driving day so far. Topeka started out rainy yet the sky's cleared around Colby. Doug adjusted his fuel regulator and the car ran fine all day doing 75+ for close to 578 miles. from 1,000ft to over 5280ft. Perfect driving weather sunny dry and cool. Tomorrow, Saturday is a day off until the kick off dinner at 6:30. Actual Roads to Monterey Tour starts Sunday.

 

[Gary Knox]

Ah yes - the picture of the road in western KS, eastern CO. Driven on many roads just like those during my life in the Great Plains. The scenery changes a bit slowly even at 75+!! Growing up in NE, I had no idea how much FUN driving could be until I discovered the mountain roads in the Rockies, and later the Appalachians (as well as the previous deer/cow trails here in southeast PA).

Glad you got that far without any significant problems. Once you are over the passes in CO, much of it is downhill - for a while.

SAFE travels.

 

[Ohmess]

Donner Summit on Interstate 80 in the Sierras is 7000 feet so he will feel the pain..

Yeah, I'm only a month into tuning my carbs, but one of the reasons I decided to ship my car is so that I wouldn't have to play around with jetting whilst en route. I am missing out on the long road trip vibe, however.

 

[DWMBMW]

Steve,

Today is a rest day in Boulder so I will pull one of the jets to see the number (thanks for the illustrations). As Andrew said it ran fine yesterday but tomorrow we are crossing the Rockies!

Ohmess,

I replaced the fuel filter just before we left and also have another spare incase I get some questionable gas along the way and it gets clogged. I do not have an in-line gauge to read the pressure but it seemed OK yesterday. I was going to rebuild the carbs before I left but ran out of time and thought I would leave well enough alone......... but you are correct my floats might not be floating.

Thanks to all,

Doug

 

[Stevehose]

The issue with higher pressure is that it can cause fuel to blow past the needle valves, evident by fuel pouring out of the venturis. 3-3.5 psi or under and you are fine. It's volume you want (and may not be getting), what kind of fuel pump are you running and how old is it? Fuel lines all tight from tank to pump to carbs? Are you running the filter before the pump or after?

 

[DWMBMW]

Steve,

The blade head on my screw driver is not very wide and the jets are locked in pretty tight after all this time so I think will wait until I get back home to rebuild the carbs before I extract any of them. Richening the mixture as you suggested is probably the best solution going forward if needed. Yes, originally the other day I adjusted the regulator to the max and it was too much pressure so I backed it off to about 3/4 which seems better. I did check all the lines and there are no apparent leaks anywhere. I replaced the fuel pump when I converted from dual downs to triple sides but can't remember what kind it is. The filter is between the tank and pump.

Doug

 

[Stevehose]

Yeah I have a big-ass Craftsman screwdriver that fits the main stack and a very long one for the idle jets/mix screws to minimize having to lean over to use. Agree, if you don't have the right tools, and unless you're dead in the water, then messing with these on the road could end badly. I have a spare Carter 4070 if you determine your pump is not up to it.

 

[kwyjibo]

Doug's, my, Andrew's and Jeff's coupes in a Boulder parking lot.

 

[adawil2002]

Had a great day off. Went to Estes Park and home of the Stanley Hotel where Stephen King wrote the "Shining". It was also where the TV miniseries was filmed which Stephen King made more like the book. Then headed to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park and bought a pass good for all the Nat'l Parks. Then walked around the town of Estes park. At 1 pm we headed back down to Boulder to meet up with kwyjibo aka Mako Saito & his friend Jim Blair. While we talked about everything under the sun, literally. Mike Ura pulled in with his M1. A half hour later Jeff Haught from New Mexico arrived in his CSi and parked next to Athena. When he saw me he said "You must be Andrew Wilson! Ive been following your build and tour progress." Soon the chat group was in the lobby, Cindy and I had to excuse ourselves to get ready for dinner. At dinner people decided to take one of the 3 routes in the tour book. Some of our group decided to take I-70 W, while we decided on I-40, the longer scenic route.

In the updated tour group: Frank & Denise Greppo, Scott & Bev Stowell, Terry & Deb Sayther, Mike Ura, David Rose & Nick Parente, Eric & Stephanie Zagrocki and Cindy & me.

 

[adawil2002]

A great day driving I-40 over the 12K foot pass and up down all around the bends. Drove Athena at near her mechanical limits, setting a fast pace for the other cars in our caravan. Had a fantastically fun descent into Provo with an M1, '74 2002 & E28 M5 all in formation setting a blistering pace. One of the best roads so far.

Learned as we were nearing Springville Utah on I-40 that Doug had broken down on I-70 West. He was awaiting a flat bed.

 

[adawil2002]

Traveled the "Loneliest Highway" Route 40 across Nevada at between 110-140kph or 70-90mph. Had Mike Ura's M1 behind me as he was the only one willing to keep up. Despite it's lack of residents, there was construction traffic. After running at speed all day, Athena put up a fuss on the climb into South Lake Tahoe. She lost poer and stalled like she wasn't getting any fuel, think she somehow vapor locked. Some thing I thought wasn't possible in a D-Jest CSi.

 

[Stevehose]

It's always somehting. What happened to Doug - is he back on the road?