Checking the carb and other questions

[Dino]

I was another sunny day in SE Michigan so I spend much of my time on the road listening to that sweet music that is the 440.  The engine runs so smooth I feel I could drive it anywhere.  It has one of those mild purple cams and an edelbrock performer intake and carb with electric choke.  A 727 and 3.91 gears.  That's how I bought it.

The driver's side header leaks, somewhere, you can hear the chugga chugga until you rev it up, which by the way is a must with 3.91's....
It's not overly loud so it's a small leak somewhere but it needs to be fixed.  I am considering losing the headers and getting hp manifolds, this car will never be raced and I would love to get the temp under the hood and in the cabin down.

The one big issue it has is that sometimes it needs to be cranked for 5-10 seconds when it's hot to fire it up.  I'm looking into this phenolic spacer thing and blocking the heat crossover, whatever that is!  I can restore a car body with ease but never learned how to do engines.

The main issue I have with all this is that the cabin will have a faint smell of gas and exhaust when driving and a pretty obvious fuel smell after I shut it off and you stay in the car.  And this is with the windows down.  I quickly checked earlier and the top of the intake is wet so the carb must be leaking.

My wife has asthma and the smell of fuel will give her an attack right away.  I need to get that smell gone, I don't care if I have to get another intake and carb.  This car is for cruising only but I want my wife to sit next to me without risking her health.

If anyone thinks I should get another carb what would you suggest?  I am changing the 3.91 to 2.94 next weekend and woudl like something to match a cruiser 440 that is the most efficient.  It gets pretty decent mpg right now but I'm sure it can be better if it runs more efficiently.  I have the original thermoquad but I hear it's a paint to setup and maintain.  What I like about this carb is that supposedly you don't have to adjust it all the time.  I pretty much want to get in and go so if there's a way to make this run at peak efficiency AND lose the smell, I'd be a happy camper.

When the previous owner replaced the 318 with this 440 he didn't reinstall the A/C.  The compressor is bolted up to the block and the belts are on but instead of removing it I'd like to get the system running again.  To top it off, the valve on the firewall (heater valve?) started leaking so he took it off.  I have it, but don't have a clue what to di with it, restore, replace?  How do you test these things?

So I have no air or heat in the car, none of the heater controls work and I've never worked on this stuff before.  Is there a detailed schematic available that shows how to reassemble and get this stuff running again?  Does the service manual show this?  If so I'll get the cd version.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Brightyellow69rtse]

well as for the issue when its hot i would definatly get the valley pan with the crossover block. i would aslo run any kind of spacer weather it be phenolic or even if you just order one of those 1/4" thick reusable gaskits. an aluminum spacer wont make the carb any cooler at all. if it cranks over slow when its hot try backing off on the timing a hair and that should make it good.

my cart smells like gas too especially if i step on it. i dont really care personally so i never investigated it. i know there is no leak anyway.

[Dino]

well as for the issue when its hot i would definatly get the valley pan with the crossover block. i would aslo run any kind of spacer weather it be phenolic or even if you just order one of those 1/4" thick reusable gaskits. an aluminum spacer wont make the carb any cooler at all. if it cranks over slow when its hot try backing off on the timing a hair and that should make it good.

my cart smells like gas too especially if i step on it. i dont really care personally so i never investigated it. i know there is no leak anyway.

I wouldn't mind a bit of a smell, especially under heavy load, but if I can prevent my wife from coughing her lungs up I'll do what I have to do.

Crank speed is fine, not as peppy as a modern car but I think it's more than sufficient.  I think it's worse when it sits for a few minutes because if I just stop to fill it up, it'll start up right away.  Must be that the heat is slowly evaporating the fuel in the carb.
I'll be sure to get the spacer and gasket and try to figure out where the leak is coming from.

[Back N Black]

What is you starting pr odecure? I know every car is different. When my car is cold 2 pumps of gas and and hold the pedal 1/4 down and she fires right up. when hot just turn the key and she fires up, if sitting for an hour one pump and fires up. Just have to play with it until you get to know the car. Food for thought........

[Dino]

What is you starting pr odecure? I know every car is different. When my car is cold 2 pumps of gas and and hold the pedal 1/4 down and she fires right up. when hot just turn the key and she fires up, if sitting for an hour one pump and fires up. Just have to play with it until you get to know the car. Food for thought........

When it's cold I also give 2 pumps of gas but do not press it at all to start, fires right up.  When it's hot and I shut it off it will likely start up again right away if I try within a few minutes.  When I shut off the hot engine at the store and come back 10 minutes later then it needs the most cranking.  I do not use the gas pedal at all, I crank a few seconds, release and repeat.  Usually it takes two or three cycles of this to fire it up.  I don't want to crank untill it fires as I'm not sure yet how well the battery system is working.  so far so good though.

[Chryco Psycho]

if the heat crossover in the intake is not blocked it is probably boiling the fuel into the intake while sitting .
Holding the throttle open while cranking hot it should start faster clearing the flooded condition confirming this is what is happening

[Dino]

if the heat crossover in the intake is not blocked it is probably boiling the fuel into the intake while sitting .
Holding the throttle open while cranking hot it should start faster clearing the flooded condition confirming this is what is happening

The previous owner did tell me that sometimes he did just that and it would start up faster, so far I didn 't feel the need to do so but I guess this is exactly what's happening.

I'm going to order the valley pan gasket kit #1215 and a phenolic spacer.  Found both on amazon.  What is your opinion on this spacer?  It's pretty cheap and convenient since they'd both come from Amazon but I'll look for another if this wouldn't do.

http://www.amazon.com/Spectre-5764-Universal-4-Hole-Carburetor/dp/B0008F68BM/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1317066680&sr=1-1

I think it should work but I do have to double check to make sure I have enough hood clearance for an extra inch.

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb477/Dino-69/1969%20Dodge%20Charger/Charger004.jpg

[Chryco Psycho]

What intake do you have on the engine ?

[Dino]

Intake and carb are edelbrock performer series.  I'll check tonight to see exactly which.  I also have the original cast iron intake and thermoquad.  It's a '70HP from a squad car.

[Chryco Psycho]

that spacer will work as an open spacer , it is more of an adapter type spacer , on a dual plane intake an Open spacer willl generally help , , on a single plane intake a straight 4 hole spacer can increase response , that spacer has smaller primary holes so it is more designed for a spread bore carb like the TQ

[Dino]

Very interesting.  At this point all I want to do is reduce the heat going to the carb.  Added performace is always great but I'm actually quite happy with how it runs right now.  I could just intall the valley pan and call it a day but it may be wise to instal a spacer while I'm at it.  I have a lot to learn all of a sudden!