My Shit

I thought carburetor day would be fun. I was wrong. Things came apart to easy yesterday for the reassembly to go correctly.

First, the carb I ordered was an old style 4160. So old, in fact, that it would not accept the electric choke conversion. A quick call to Holley proved what I was seeing with my own two eyes. I then called Summit to see what other options they could / would suggest. It was already obvious they didn't know the Holley line so well when it came to the old stuff (not that I do either) so I decided I'd give the carb a try anyway, and then bastardize some kind of mechanical linkage for the choke.

I put the carb on and hauled my sick girlfriend outside (thank you) to check for fuel leaks while I turned the engine over. I only had to tighten things down a little bit to stop the fuel leaks. Of course, it didn't want to start because it is cold outside and the choke wasn't hooked up. I cranked and cranked and cranked. Finally, it started up. But all was not well. First, it would idle okay, and I could mash the throttle down and it would rev up okay. But if I touched the throttle a little bit it would spit fuel out the top and the engine would die. I decided to investigate this when I realized the carb was leaking fuel either from the top of the rear fuel bowl where it meets the body or from the fuel transfer tube. This is where I finally decided to give up.

After I went to the store go get beer, I sat down with the "internets" to do some research. The people on Moparts, who are usually more than helpful, were totally silent on the subject. I also searched Holley's website. It would appear as though there is an answer to my question in a 750 carb with an electric choke already installed. It should be here by Friday.

The truck does have front wheels and tires now. Even though I ordered a full set of tires for the truck two weeks ago, I'm still waiting for the rears to arrive (Grrrr).

The truck had a leaky axle seal on the passenger side. I replaced the seal. In replacing the seal, I noticed the end play adjuster lock was missing. This is not good. This is probably what led to the seal failure, and I probably could have lost an axle while running down the highway, but I'm glad I did not. So I replaced the axle retainer and reset the end play and I'm good to go there.



The image above shows the engine bay. Anyone that knows Mopar can see it is a big block. It is actually a 440ci engine. But under the not so shiny air cleaner is the worst of the worst: a Quadrajet carburetor. Also known as "Slober-Jet." I've ordered a remanufactured, original equipment Holley 4160 from Summit Racing. I also ordered the electric choke conversion kit. At some point in the past, the divorced hot-air choke on this was trashed. They are next to impossible to find a replacement for. So, I get to upgrade to an electric choke even if I don't really want to do so. But it is okay, since it should lead to smoother operation once properly adjusted.

The next change is likely to be a disc brake conversion for the front of the currently all drum brake truck. Big blocks and drum brakes don't mix well with crazy Atlanta drivers.

So, the first truck we got was a '95 Ram. It was blue, had over a hundred thousand miles on it, and leaked oil. It ran strong, got decent mileage, and did what we needed it to do. But it isn't what I wanted. I wanted something from at least the mid '80's if not older. So, I called my parents and they agreed to buy the truck since they needed one.

I searched for a bit and finally found what I was looking for. Long story short, the truck in the picture below is now sitting in our car port!