Technical '77 Carb issues

[rupesy]

I an a new owner of '77 spider and I am having issues with the carb. It starts and runs fine until it gets warm and then I have trouble keeping it running. I pulled the air cleaner today to have a look and it looks like gas is leaking into the carb. The secondary carb fills up with gas while running. If I shut off the car, both fill up with gas I guess until the pressure is relieved. Is this something that can be fixed with a rebuild kit, or is it something more simple than that?

Thanks......also, anywhere I can get some pdf manuals, etc??

 

[sixpotman]

http://www.mirafiori.com/~corey/How-To/Carb.htm

John

 

[rupesy]

finally found some spare time to look into the issue more....yeah I know...1-1/2 years later....anyway, I pulled the carb off to have a look and found that the float was hitting the top of the carb and the valve would not shut off. I found in a manual that it needed to be about 6.5 mm from the top. I adjusted it and then I found a manual that talks a little bit about adjusting the carb back to factory settings. I have done that now and I need starter fluid to get it started. Also it won't stay running without messing with the throttle. If I stand there and spray starter fluid over the carb while it is running, it smooths out and if a pulse the starter spray over the carb it idles really nice. I looked down into the carb and it seems like the gas is not coming out of the jet consistently. Some comes out and then it almost stops. I think this should be a constant spray. What are some things I should check at this point. Messing around with the idle mixture screw doesn't seem to do much. I was thinking to pull the carb and give it a good cleaning. Is there a rebuild kit available?

 

[rupesy]

Pulled the carb again and found water in the float bowl. Also gave the float bowl and jets a good cleaning. Put it back on and started OK however I had to keep the throttle going until it warmed up. Once warmed up, it idled fine. Took it for a spin and ran OK. Came back and it idled OK for a while and then stalled. Got kind of tired by this point, but I bet I got more water in there. I think I am going to pick up some dry gas and dump it in the tank. The car has sat for a while. I am going to fill the tank to the top as well.

Also, it didn't seem like the idle mixture screw did anything when I turned it back and forth several turns. Is it possible that the passage is clogged as well?

 

[rupesy]

Well, added some gas and the situation got worse. There is a lot of sediment in the tank. It will definitely need to be cleaned. Is this something I can attempt my self or better to buy a new/refurbished one???

 

[spannerdude]

Well, added some gas and the situation got worse. There is a lot of sediment in the tank. It will definitely need to be cleaned. Is this something I can attempt my self or better to buy a new/refurbished one???

Taking the tank out is not too difficult for a competent amateur. It's the most assured method of solving sediment problems.
Alternatively you could fit an inline filter and water trap. These can be either cheap disposable filters or a permanent "glass bowl" type.
With the glass bowl type you can see when there is water or sediment in there and drain it out.

You need to consider the fuel you are using too. Here in the UK we are getting more and more ethanol added to petrol. Ethanol contains water which our classics were never designed to cope with. Modern cars have plastic tanks, imagine the trouble this fuel will cause for our steel ones