351W Running Issues

[ledzilla]

Ok, so yeah, I was a putz. Forgot to re-torque the nuts on the carb. But new problems arose. I had to jump start it because somehow the battery was drained, but it started up somewhat easily. I let it sit and run at high idle to hhelp recharge the battery. After some time, though, smoke started coming from the enginend bay. Not sure where it was all coming from, but some appeared to be coming from around the spark plug for cylinder #1. I shut it off and then heard dripping water, saw coolant dripping down up front. Took a closer look and found that the lower radiator hose had popped off. Didn't even see the clamp. I'm thinking that the clamp may have been badly corroded and fell off, and the pressure from the hot coolant popped off the hose.

I went to do a crank test just to make sure the block didn't warp enough to seize. But there was barely any power in the battery to crank. So it looks like I also need a new battery. I have a new jug of coolant on hand, so I'm hoping I have some distilled water and clamp on hand, too. Regrettably, the battery was one I pulled from my LTD wagon because it needs some attention, and I have no extra batteries available.

At least on the plus side it's running well.

 

[ledzilla]

The saga continues.

I picked up a junkyard battery, but after one or two drives it stopped holding a charge. Got it swapped out for a nearly new battery and that's been a big improvement.

However, I've been having trouble with the carb mounting nuts staying torqued. I torqu them into place, the engine runs great for one or two outings, and then it's running terribly again. Torque, drive, repeat. So, I went to just pull the nuts, apply LockTite (blue), and then torque them down again. Well, it turns out that one of the nuts is completely seized onto the stud, and it's u too high to properly tighten onto the carb base. So, I have new studs now on order.