engine and drivetrain Brakes/Tuneup Questions for early 69 1600

[gruizer]

Hey guys, well it turns out that my 69 1600 is an early one. My vin# is 1567083. That means that I have the old 2 piston brake calipars. Well I noticed that one of my brakes felt like it was dragging so I jacked up the car so I could do a brake system bleed. I noticed that my driver side wheel was kind of hard to turn by hand even after the bleed. My question is. Should I just get new flex lines? I would like to work with newer parts but the calipars are hard to find. What if I wanted to upgrade to the 4 pistons calipars? Would I have to change my master cylinder too? Also my driver side rear brake didn't really bleed. When I turned the nipple nothing really came out.

Question #2. I also got everything that I need to do a tune up on the engine. But, I noticed that the car is running rich (smells like gasoline and spark plugs are black) but I don't know if I should try to tune the carb before I put all the new parts in (air cleaner, spark plugs, wires, points, etc), will I just end up mucking up all those new parts? Also, how do you tune a carb when you don't have a tach? I have the original solex 36-40.

Sorry if some of these questions are stupid but I'm trying to learn as I go. I also started a project blog if you're intersted. Thanks in advance guys.

Rudy

[bmdubracing]

My 2002 break job was almost all flex lines, it seems they tend to swell up on the inside making it harder for fluid to get through. The drag of the wheel by hand sounds more like a warped rotor than a flex line, but thats just my opinion. I would go ahead and replace the flex lines anyway even more so because it is an older vin. A web site called bmp design sells a full stainless steel line set for only 100 bucks, its a good deal depending on the condition of you metal line at the moment.

If your rear didn't bleed then your flex line is probably swollen shut,

good luck with the new car , Kyle

[rogerspeed]

Hey guys, well it turns out that my 69 1600 is an early one. My vin# is 1567083. That means that I have the old 2 piston brake calipars. Well I noticed that one of my brakes felt like it was dragging so I jacked up the car so I could do a brake system bleed. I noticed that my driver side wheel was kind of hard to turn by hand even after the bleed. My question is. Should I just get new flex lines? I would like to work with newer parts but the calipars are hard to find. What if I wanted to upgrade to the 4 pistons calipars? Would I have to change my master cylinder too? Also my driver side rear brake didn't really bleed. When I turned the nipple nothing really came out.

Question #2. I also got everything that I need to do a tune up on the engine. But, I noticed that the car is running rich (smells like gasoline and spark plugs are black) but I don't know if I should try to tune the carb before I put all the new parts in (air cleaner, spark plugs, wires, points, etc), will I just end up mucking up all those new parts? Also, how do you tune a carb when you don't have a tach? I have the original solex 36-40.

Sorry if some of these questions are stupid but I'm trying to learn as I go. I also started a project blog if you're intersted. Thanks in advance guys.

Rudy

I'll take a stab at this. The four piston calipers require a master with more outlets and lines, unless you do some fancy line work, and then the question would be weather the single circut m/c provides enough pressure. I take it your m/c is mounted directly to the brake pedal with with the remote booster, the four piston calipers have a different upper pedal box with the m/c and booster in a tandem alignment with a remote linkage. If I were you I'd first check that the caliper is not hanging up, then proceed to replacing the flex line. I have seen the front flex lines internally collapse which causes the brakes to hang up as you describe. It is also very common for the rear flex lines to fail the same way. In my experienece you will need heat to removedisconnect the rear flex lines, otherwise you just round off the fitting, even using a line wrench.

The carb maybe flooding, bad float valve, impropperly set float level or a float that has failed and is full of gasoline so it doesn't work (float) correctly. after determining why the carb is spewing too much gas (don't touch the mixture) then set the timing (assuming propperly set points and condenser with clean plugs). You can get a simple engine analyzer (multi-function test meter) it allows you to check the dwell on the points and the engine rpm. Then after the timing is correct you can ajust the mixture.

[Benz02]

Seems to me you could put all the new stuff on and tune the carb without worrying about messing anything up. Set the timing first, even if it's just by "feel"...you can do this by having someone hold the rpm at 2k while you gently turn the distributor. Then for the carb, lean the mix til the idle starts to get rough and then back it (the mixture screw) out til it's smooth. Then go one quarter turn beyond that for a little extra juice. In fact, I would adjust the mix right off the bat just to see if it makes any difference.

Good Luck.

Ben '71 verona

[rogerspeed]

I really think you got to find out the source of the gasoline smell, if the carb is leaking, why waste time and money putting on new parts and tuning? The source of a gas smell might be more than just than the mixture being adjusted too rich, a flooded cold engine is hard to start, a rich mixture cold engine isn't, all things being equal.

[gruizer]

Thanks you guys for all the suggestions. I will definitly try new flex lines first. As far as the carb goes, it sounds like the carb might be flooding or have a problem with the float valve. I will let you guys know what the end results are. Thanks again.