The Water Buffalo-Seemingly never ending cafe project

[shinyribs]

I know   kick starters are so cool!!  doing it by hand...double cool   I got a short fuse today after a rough day at work so decided to step away     rare for me      so i took the Pimpala out for a little tromp    nothing like bangin' on a four speed with a small block screamin' at full song to calm the ol' gray matter        i think i MAY have figured out my issue    tell me if im on the right page or not.       When it was flooding it revved great and off idle stumble was gone     obviously if its flooding then fuel level is high enough(more than enough,i know,bear with me)   so when i "corrected" the level and put my metal tipped needles back in all the other issues came back  (flooding ceased)     im  new on bikes,but i know cars and holleys well     if it was a car doing this than i would be confident that it was an idle mixture AND accelerator pump issue    so while out rowing gears i tried to relate what little i know about these carbs to holleys    no acc pump on these so apparently no need for transition circuit from idle to part throttle    metering needle same in theory to carter and rochester carburetors.    hmmm   i agree with you daddyman on the lean issue   but i feel its only on idle(sorta..i know,bear with me)     previous owner complained about slow topend speeds(90-100 mph max) but said it ran great otherwise so i feel it should not need any immediate jet changes just for basic running around        so this is what im thinking now: i noticed the slow speed jet is mounted alot higher in the carb body than the main jet    i believe my float levels may be to LOW and starving for fuel at idle causing poor idle/off-idle stumble    eventually leaning out on main jet as well causing the laboring to rev (lean like you said Daddyman,but for different reason than jets...i think )      if i pop my bowls off without draining them the  fuel level is 1/3 of a bowl  at best   what should it be?   because i know that the low speed jet is way up there compared to the main jet and maybe thats why i gotta keep rpms up to stay running,to pull fuel thru the main circuit    am i thinking right or way off??  any and all suggestions please      if you were able to stay awake thru my rant...thank you and im sorry   just trying to relay as much info as possible to get this fixed

[TOOLS1]

Are the towers, for the main jets cracked?
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

is it possible to have a rotten fuel bowl ???      i know that sounds dumb    but i have one that is not shiny like the rest    inside or out    and it is full of pits inside    if you scrape it with a screwdriver it feels soft,almost rubbery,and it is easy,real easy to remove metal from the bowl when only slightly scraping with a screwdriver    its just weird and i dont know if it will continue to"rot" and cause debris issues     or just be dark and ugly, which i can live with

[Daddyman]

  When I first got the bike the fuel was running out of the overflow tubes on 1 and 3 so I adjusted the floats on those to match the other two (by eye of course) and the leaks stopped.  I don't remember how full the bowls where so Ill pop one off tomorrow and let ya know where they are at.  Mine have to be right if it will start with no throttle and a little push of the kickstart right??

[shinyribs]

towers seem to be good,the ones cast into the carb itself?     the brass holder/extension for the main jet seems to be fine as well    but the brass holder doesnt seem to screw in very far at all,3-4 threads at most, and i wondered if that was sealing ok

[shinyribs]

I would hate to think you took your bike apart for my junk      i was just wondering if anyone knew/remembered off the top of their head      its a bear to get to those bowls and keep gasket in place   thank you daddyman   but dont take your bike apart!!!

[Daddyman]

Too late man,  the fuel is just below half if not half.  It was about a 1/8th" the up the brass tube in the bowl.

[Daddyman]

[shinyribs]

wow your fast !!   howd you do that??    thank you man    great to have reference to a bike like yours that runs good    i bet that is my problem then    at least a starting point     thanks bud   i really appreciate that!!

[shinyribs]

and a picture too?!?!   you are fast!!!

[shinyribs]

OK   i set my floats a little higher  i just eyeballed the level of the slow jet and kept adjusting float until that jet was 1/4"  below fuel level in bowl      may be wrong but i do that alot    didnt really seem to help the problem any  liked i hoped     went ahead and put the sync gauges on ....way off    range from 7-17 in mercury       so heres my new issue    the more i play with the sync the better the idle/revving gets as i am able to raise the vacuum     not running good  just better.    the manual calls for 20-22 in hg vacuum @ 850-950 rpm idle ,im at 12 in. hg and won't idle below 1200 rpm    cant get more because im running out of thread on the slide     im starting to wonder if my stumble  is from low vacuum,inability to draw fuel mixture in efficiently???    so how do i hit 20-22 in. hg?   readjust the forks that lift the slides on the rods?   thats all i can figure        well im going to study the manual and read some carb tech on here       been breathing fumes too long....think it is affecting my....hey?!?!   bring back that coconut soda...my platypus gets thirsty when she dances!!!....sneaky little pixies.......you gotta watch 'em

[shinyribs]

screw the fumes      ok  i messed up     the manual calls for  20 - 22  CENTIMETERS OF MERCURY    i was trying to get 20-22 INCHES    wow  im dumb       sync gauges i got read in in. hg only i wasnt paying attention      so i got my old faithful vacuum gauge out to compare  apparently 20 cm hg   is comparable to  8 in.hg     in case anyone  was wondering    here is a pic of the two gauges compared     bike is running      so...sync didnt cure my problems either     i bet im missing something simple     i knew nothing of these bikes but what little ive learned i have seen that everyhting was out of whack on this thing     wonder if i need to double check the ignition timing before i proceed    i havent learned how to do that yet        help please!!!!

[shinyribs]

okay   i apologize that this is not honda related,but i had to show off. I know,i'm conceited .Just got my Pimpala seats from my buddy at the upholstery shop a couple days ago. He only charges $20 per seat for embroidery so i had him spiff up my seats.  I love'em!  Thanks Dan!! I know my pictures are sucky,i only have my cell phone for a camera

[Piute]

It's junk,hide the thing,weres my blocker,some-one shoot this,by the way what yrs yo pimp.l.o.l.Piute

[shinyribs]

HAHA  watch yourself Piute or i will have to start posting anti-Harley stuff on here  HAHA     It's a 1966.   Chevrolet's best year,everthing they built in '66 looked good

[LukeM]

Regarding carb sync:  There is one carburetor whose settings you cannot change.  On the DOHC models, this is carb #2 (second from left when seated, facing front).  Whatever reading you get for #2, you need to make all the others match that.  I recall from another forum that you adjust #3 first, then #4, then verify that the #3 and #4 pair match #2.  Then you adjust #1 to match #2.

It helps to blip the throttle after adjusting a carb, to reset everything.  Just a quick blip.  Also, since this is an air cooled bike, make sure you have airflow blowing across the cylinders.

After that, and readjusting the throttle to spec, make sure all 4 carbs have the same reading.

Then go for a test drive, and see how it runs.  It should accelerate smoother and rev a bit quicker.

Let us know how it goes.
Luke M

[TOOLS1]

That picture brings back a lot of memories, of summer trips in the back seat, of a 66 Caprice. Damn they sucked! Stuck back there, for hours on end with my stupid brother.
TOOLS
P.S. The front seats look pretty nice.

[shinyribs]

Hey Tools    Happy Birthday!!!

Thanks for the info Luke.Does that hold true for SOHC bikes,too?The part about matching to #2? My bike is unridable as i dont have a chain for it yet,or a gas tank that i can mount.I actually have a radiator overflow tank that im using for a gas tank right now.So all the revving i'm talking about is just sitting still.I have no idea what it would do if actually under a load.If i blip the throttle from idle it snaps up just fine,but if i try to stay in it i can hear air(i guess)"fluttering" into the carbs and it will die if i dont let off. I don't know whats up. I'm learning a lot,just not fast enough to suit me.Thanks for all the help guys.

[TOOLS1]

On the keyhole carbs, and the DOHC models the No#2 carb is not adjustable. On the older round top carbs they are all adjustable. You sync them, and then adjust the idle.
Thanks, for the birthday wishes.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Thanks for clarifying that for me. Whew! I thought i had done really screwed up!  On adjusting the cam tensioner,the manual says to put the advance plate marker for the 1-4 cyl. use the T mark and align to engine case pointer    do you need to know if it is tdc on compression stroke or tdc on exhaust stroke or does it matter?