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Well my new to me 78 is home. Now time to start the list. And its not a bad one. But it is one. First things first. The car runs and drives fine. The carb potato is just that when it's cold. I did ajust the choke and mixture, adjusted idle. That was a must coming from Denver to Missouri. But cold starts suck. The paint is in good condition but definitely has brushes and warts. It was garage kept but it was a working garage so it has chips and scratches. It needs all new seals and door pull on both sides. It has door drop but just drivers side and not bad. The console lid hinge is Bluetooth. And finally the rod clip inside drives door is broken so that's a rattle. But there's absolutely NO rust in the car at all. So I definitely will take the list. I just need to save the paint. And fix the mirror issues. Then go from there.
Just a FYI this car is very capable of cold starts. When it was new or with a proper rebuild and adjustment is should be almost as good as EFI. Most cold start issues on these cars was crank speed related. It did not matter if I was working in Northern PA or Sumter SC if you rebuild the carb and set everything back to factory specs you will end up finding the idle screws need their 2-1/2 turn and she will be right. If not something else is wrong. Even on well maintained cars intake gaskets tend to have micro vacuum leaks as they age. Even a 6 year old factory intake gasket was prone to this.
Welcome aboard .I have a 1979 Z-28 and your car looks to be in decent shape .It just needs some "TLC' to get up to snuff .I would get as many factory and such as a Chiltons to help you on what ever you are going to do with the car.As well as join the local Camaro car for help..Good luck to you .
Just a FYI this car is very capable of cold starts. When it was new or with a proper rebuild and adjustment is should be almost as good as EFI. Most cold start issues on these cars was crank speed related. It did not matter if I was working in Northern PA or Sumter SC if you rebuild the carb and set everything back to factory specs you will end up finding the idle screws need their 2-1/2 turn and she will be right. If not something else is wrong. Even on well maintained cars intake gaskets tend to have micro vacuum leaks as they age. Even a 6 year old factory intake gasket was prone to this.
So what I've found is this. The top plate of the carb was loose. It was almost 2 turns of each fastener. The choke air blade was just flopping around. The screw on that was loose.. Now the next thing is the heat tube that goes from intake and choke spring. The little rubber tube between them is cracked. So I'm wondering is that a vacuum leak? So yes I know the Rodchester is capable of good cold start. My last 78 had a 2 bbl Rodchester with an electric choke. That thing started no matter what temperature.
Well I now have the car to the point it will cold start and high idle. I can't tell yet what RPM it is running at in high idle. But it is doing it in 2 stages like it's supposed too. But it much like the other classic car I have take about 3 times to get it to do so. Drain back or leaking carb may still be an issue. But hey I've gotten that far with it..
11-09-2021, 06:56 PM
Going back to school.
