jhjacobs
Well-Known Member
Just returned home from Vintage at the Vineyards. It was a great success. Never heard the final vintage car count but 300+ would not surprise me. At the show I spoke with people coming in from as far as Florida, Minnesota, Canada, and Vermont. The new venue, Shelton Vineyards, was extremely nice and generally up to the challenge of hosting such an event. I spent quite a bit of time talking smack with old man Shelton and somehow he sold me three cases of wine?! My camera was sitting on the kitchen table feeling lonely table so I won't be posting pictures; hopefully someone else had the presence of mind that I don't seem have anymore and brought their camera so we can see some pictures.
My Zenith conversion saga came to a happy conclusion during the trip. I was up until 2am the night before leaving trying to resolve mis-firing under moderate load and sluggish throttle response. I checked everything I could think of. I actually set the float levels with a precision caliper and even did a compression test and nary a clue. Without any luck on the rough engine I reluctantly set out in the morning. We met up with a small crew of drivers in Manassas, VA. Our esteemed Bill Riblett was among them so I got to commiserate with him on my problem. He suggested my Bosch platinum, 4-electrode plugs sounded very guilty to him but I initially dismissed this because I had not changed anything with my ignition and it was running well enough before the Zeniths.
I pressed on despite the rough engine. Along the way we picked up about 25 cars in the caravan and by evening we made it to Mount Airy, NC, for the meet & greet. Those of you who haven't been to Mount Airy well let me tell you that you are missing a real American treasure. This place IS Mayberry. They had Andy's squad car driving up and down the street giving rides. There was a guy dressed like Barney Fife, Floyd's Barbershop, and even Opies Candy store. I am pleased to report that I did NOT let Goober service my coupe! (My apologies to all non-Americans on the board as this may not make any sense).
The morning the event I got up early and went out in search of an auto parts store. The local AutoZone hooked me up with some standard Bosch plugs so I could prove Bill wrong. As the show was winding down I popped the hood and changed the plugs. I went along tightening and plugging in wires then my wrench hit the #6 wire very lightly but it pulled the cable out of the boot! Upon inspection it had been very loose for some time, there was green crud buildup around the center contact and the housing. I cleaned this as best I could and screwed the wire back into the boot. I had also noticed when pulling the old plugs that the forward bank were running leaner than the rear. After pondering this a while I noticed the forward carb primary venturi was a bit loose. It is held in place with a large brass plug and a shim washer. Fortunately I packed all the carb parts so I was able to substitute a thinner washer and snug up the venturi. After doing this I got the engine started. I reset the timing and I was also able to easily sync the carbs (before I could never get them to comply perfectly). On the trip back it ran perfectly Even with the poor engine performance on the way down I got 26.5mpg on this trip.
So, Bill, I can't say it was or was not the plugs causing the problem. However, if you had not cajoaled me into changing them I might still be in the garage scratching my head and considering a valve job. Thanks!
My Zenith conversion saga came to a happy conclusion during the trip. I was up until 2am the night before leaving trying to resolve mis-firing under moderate load and sluggish throttle response. I checked everything I could think of. I actually set the float levels with a precision caliper and even did a compression test and nary a clue. Without any luck on the rough engine I reluctantly set out in the morning. We met up with a small crew of drivers in Manassas, VA. Our esteemed Bill Riblett was among them so I got to commiserate with him on my problem. He suggested my Bosch platinum, 4-electrode plugs sounded very guilty to him but I initially dismissed this because I had not changed anything with my ignition and it was running well enough before the Zeniths.
I pressed on despite the rough engine. Along the way we picked up about 25 cars in the caravan and by evening we made it to Mount Airy, NC, for the meet & greet. Those of you who haven't been to Mount Airy well let me tell you that you are missing a real American treasure. This place IS Mayberry. They had Andy's squad car driving up and down the street giving rides. There was a guy dressed like Barney Fife, Floyd's Barbershop, and even Opies Candy store. I am pleased to report that I did NOT let Goober service my coupe! (My apologies to all non-Americans on the board as this may not make any sense).
The morning the event I got up early and went out in search of an auto parts store. The local AutoZone hooked me up with some standard Bosch plugs so I could prove Bill wrong. As the show was winding down I popped the hood and changed the plugs. I went along tightening and plugging in wires then my wrench hit the #6 wire very lightly but it pulled the cable out of the boot! Upon inspection it had been very loose for some time, there was green crud buildup around the center contact and the housing. I cleaned this as best I could and screwed the wire back into the boot. I had also noticed when pulling the old plugs that the forward bank were running leaner than the rear. After pondering this a while I noticed the forward carb primary venturi was a bit loose. It is held in place with a large brass plug and a shim washer. Fortunately I packed all the carb parts so I was able to substitute a thinner washer and snug up the venturi. After doing this I got the engine started. I reset the timing and I was also able to easily sync the carbs (before I could never get them to comply perfectly). On the trip back it ran perfectly Even with the poor engine performance on the way down I got 26.5mpg on this trip.
So, Bill, I can't say it was or was not the plugs causing the problem. However, if you had not cajoaled me into changing them I might still be in the garage scratching my head and considering a valve job. Thanks!
