I think a Haynes manual can be a good primer for a given task. If you don't know what a distributor is,(for example) then the manual will have a picture, maybe even of the correct distributor for your engine.

Frequently ask questions and verify information, because you can. A Haynes manual was useful when I was first learning(about 15 years ago), but didn't cover 10% of the stuff I learned from actually doing it and asking others.


Back onto topic: What kind of ignition system does the truck have? Is is 'electronic' or is it 'spark control computer' controlled?

I agree with DM, that you should try running a tank of better gasoline and see if the problem subsides.
This could throw your carb adjustments out of whack on a late model mill.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

I'm not sure what the rumors might be, but there are several reasons for a hole in the throttle plate. The hole isn't arbitrary; it's of a calibrated size. This allows the throttle plate to go all the way closed at curb idle, which in turn improves accuracy/consistency of curb idle adjustment—it is easier to precisely control the throttle plate/bore fit at the carb factory than to precisely control the degree to which the throttle plate is cracked open at curb idle, and having all the idle air pass through just two small holes (the throttle plate hole and the idle air bypass jet) increases local air velocity, which improves idle fuel atomization. This became crucial as emission regulations tightened.

The second reason for the hole is also to do with emissions; if the throttle is slammed shut suddenly (you take your foot off the accelerator while the engine's at speed) there is a tendency with some engines and some carburetion setups for the manifold to "wet flash" and the intake charge to briefly spike rich. The holed throttle plate can help reduce this effect.

Note also that not all V8 BBDs have the holed throttle plates, some (very few) Slant-6 BBDs do have the holed throttle plates, some BBS 1bbls do and some don't, some Holley 1bbls do and some don't, some Stromberg WW 2bbls do and some don't, etc.

Dan, thanks for the advice on the manual. I got myself the Haynes Repair Manual because there are a lot of Autozone stores in Mexico and all of them carry the book, so it was an easy choice.

Good literature in English is difficult to find in here because of the language, but there are quite a few bookstores in English in where you can order any book if it is not on stock. Also amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com ship to Mexico at no additional cost than the US and Canada. My town is around one and a half hour driving from the Texas border and I have a mailing address in McAllen. So I will get a good manual... but I don't know which one. My car is a '74 Valiant Duster, it is the Mexican version of the US Dart Sport. The engine needs desperate attention, it is close to a complete overhaul, which I plan to do myself as practice to get experience prior of a later build of an EFI supercharged /6 I have in mind. Any book title in mind?

Thanks a lot,

Ed


My baby on the works... (you can see the little green doorstop on the floor)

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My other car is... another DUSTER!!! .·.

You can't get these books via Amazon, etc.

This one is tough to beat for the price, but it's only one of the two volumes. This one has both volumes and the price is still very fair.

It doesn't matter whether you get a Plymouth/Valiant manual set or a Dodge/Dart manual set; the contents are identical.

Thanks Dan, I will follow closely the auction of the two volumes, it is worthed.

Ed.

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My other car is... another DUSTER!!! .·.

The holes in the V8 BBD throttle plates is for the CAP emissions package. The CAP emissions package was designed to pass California's mid '70s emissions rules. If your state does not follows those rules, then you won't find those holes in the junkyard carbs.

My state didn´t, and it seems chrysler just shipped cars bolted together with whatever was on the shelf that day...

The above is really not correct. CAP was designed initially to comply with California's emission requirements of the 1960s; the first year for CAP was 1963. All US-market cars got CAP starting in 1968. CAP (Clean Air Package) was renamed CAS (Clean Air System) for 1970. And not all CAP/CAS carbs have holed throttle plates.

Please check out what the '78 DC Slant 6 manuals says about the BBD:

http://www.kesteb.us/dart/dc-78/page15.htm

Any 318 v8 BBD is usable except for the ones from the CAP package.

That's very nice, but given the high rate of errors in the slant-6 sections of the DC/MP engine books over the years, I tend to disregard them on any but the most general level.

Lots of people have made lots of CAP/CAS BBDs work well on lots of slant-6 engines, myself included.

I find it interesting that you sorta, with a flip of your hand, dismiss ideas that don't fit into your framework. Would you be so kind as to point out those errors so the rest of use will know.

Over the years, the DC/MP Slant-6 engine books have contained many different and entertaining errors of fact. There have been references to nonexistent 240CID slant-6s used in trucks (we wish!), references to 7-main-bearing crankshafts used in truck 225s, completely garberated carburetor OE application information, incorrect part numbers, failure to fix outdated/superseded information, etc. It mostly boils down to sloppy fact-checking, which isn't too surprising. After 1962, slant-6 racing was a definite "last priority" deal at DC/MP, to the point where they were selling stock replacement parts as "performance" items. Remember the "9:1" pistons that were nothing more than ordinary stock plain old service replacement pistons?

It's not a question of what does or doesn't fit into "my framework" (or anyone else's, for that matter.) . It's a question of what it says in the book vs. what's the case in the real world. When those two things agree, that's dandy and keen. When they don't, the real world wins.

This is one for the record. I think I have pinpointed the problem. After the changeover, I noticed the temperature a lttle hotter than it was before. Still opperating in the normal range, I didn't see this as a problem. But it was (I think). I changed the thermostat and flushed the cooling system and drove it like I stole it. It worked. Now it runs close to the colder side and it shuts off fine. Also, I set the timming to 0 and adjusted the carb. Thanks for all the responces and advise. Now to my next project, the instrument panel. I want to swap out the existing instruments and go with a slick racing type gauge cluster. any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated. Something simple would be best, since I am probally the worst electrical person in the world. Thanks, ole_blue

Blue---

Glad it sounds like you've got your problem fixed. Another place you might check is your float adjustment. If there's gas getting through, it can cause run-on.

Never hurts to have a well-adjusted carb,

Joe

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Joe Hoppe

71 D100 225 Super Six 727 AT on 2008 Crown Vic CopCar frame

64 Valiant Wagon 225 904 AT 3:23 8.75"

I heard this might be bad for your motor...is it? My buddy told me that if it happens too much you might end up with shot rods or internal hardware. Is this correct?

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Drive it like its stolen, and be glad im not YOUR son...