I've been wondering why the car is so awful when it's cold. I thought it was just a problem with the carb so I ordered the Weber book and a rebuild kit. After reading thru the book a few times, I wandered out to the garage and took off the air cleaner. This is when I noticed something I hand't noticed before. My electric choke is being held in place by 1 screw instead of 3.
I say in place because while it was attached to the carb, the spring was not actually "choking". After finding 2 screws identical to the 1 and reattched. An amazingly enough, the engine starts right up cold and keeps running.
Still having the surging problem. 2 vacuum lines on the carb. Passenger side. Both capped. I removed the caps and inspected them. There is some cracking when I squeeze them. Could be my leak. I've been meaning to try running the line from the carb to the dizzy to see if I can tell a difference.
I've been trying to prioritize what needs to be done. Mechanical first. Looks second.
I started with the basics. Plugs, points and wires. Then I decided I do a valve job. Easier than I thought it would be. Valves were tighter than I think they should have been. I don't know how long they have been that way but it concerns me.
Next on the agenda: Oil pan gasket, oil change, filter, timing chain gasket, fan blade, coolant flush, inspect water pump (replace if necessary), figure out how the electric fan is wired, rebuild the carb...
When starting the engine, there is alot of lateral movement. One of the notes on the paperwork is something about weak motormounts. I wonder if the bangin noise I get at 3k RPM and during startup is related to how much the engine is allowed to move?
When all that is done, replace the exhaust from front to back.
Hopefully I won't find anything else wrong along the way.
After scraping some paint off the engine compartment, it turns out the car was originally sienna brown. Don't know that I will get it repainted that color.
Still a little overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done and the fact that I havn't done work like this in 15 years and had my father there every minute but dealing with it.