my x19 hit the road yesterday after a 16 year restseems to run and drive ok except when it gets warm the idle shoots up to 2k and i cant get it down there is a fast idle adjuster on the chike mecanism but thats wound right out and isnt touching and if i turn the bolt facing the rear of the car on the carb that will drop it to about 1500 but it runs very lumpy and stalls on junctions any ideas?

After a 16 year rest I hope you gave it a good service before using? Probably alot of muck etc in the fuel. I would reccomend checking and replacing most fuel lines and coolant hoses. Have you checked the carb jets to make sure they are clear?

If it is idling ok under choke but then getting faster as the choke comes off then you have a very peculiar problem. I would start with checking everything is working the way it should - ignition timing and cam timing for a start and then look at the carb settings. If the primary throttle is closing properly (and the secondary is completely shut - another point worth checking) then the only thing it can be is too much fuel and too much ignition advance.

The idle speed when warm is supposed to be governed by just two things - the throttle stop and the float level. Most of the things that are likely to have gone wrong from a prolonged layup would have the reverse effect - primarily too little fuel due to blockages.

i have messed with everything the carb was seized solid so has been apart and cleaned as for ignition timing i changed the distributor so thats moved to thanks for the ideas i will have a tinker

also the float may be out and i had trouble with the ignition timing i set the distributor as the book says connecting a test light and rotating etc and the car refused to start in the end i loosened the dizzy and turned it by hand while cranking and found it was miles away so i set it to where i thought it ran best but i have a idea it may be too retarded could i have a lot to go over .

but for today i will live with a fast idle as every time i touch it it takes a day to get it to start again

check it with an rpm guage,, like used for tunups.. ill bet is not going over 1400.. the x likes to idle a bit fast 13-1500.. mine shows like 17-1800 on the dash but my snap on timming light shows a steady 1400.

Mine lopes if lowered as well, I believe I read the rpm guage is incorrect at low rpm's, that certianly seems the case for mine.

I have to say that sounds rather strange to me - mine idled nicely between 1000-1100 rpm, not just one but three different cars too. I seem to remember the spec sheet calls for an idle of about 800-900rpm though. Anything idling much faster than that when warmed up has a problem - either the throttle stop is wrong, too much advance and/or too much fuel possibly combined with an air leak in the induction system.

Even my race car running on twin 40s idled at 1100-1200rpm without trouble (it was almost impossible to start but once going was fine).