Checking the Carb Settings

I found a place about 25 miles away in County Durham that had a rolling road and were happy to work on a chevy : http://www.macdonald-racing.com/. A proper old school place that had a pre-war Lagonda outside the workshop with some other older stuff inside undergoing restoration - Wish I hadn't forgotten my camera!

They wired the cob up and set about adjusting the idle mixture - turns out I hadn't quite got it right despite my best efforts. With that done the rolling road was brought into play and the cruising mixtures were checked at 1000,2000 and 3000 rpm together with gentle acceleration (too early for WOT max power runs). It got quite interesting because as the resistance of the rollers went up - more gas was needed and when the secondaries opened the wheels would spin!! So one chap had to sit in the boot! Again - wish I hadn't forgotten my camera!

The consensus at the end of the day was that it was running just slightly rich across the rev range (up to 3000) but that was no bad thing for running in. The main thing for my peace of mind was that it was not running lean or over rich.

They finished off with running it up to 3500 rpm which showed 285BHP at the wheels so it is probably on target for 450 at max rpm.

All in all it took 45 minutes and cost me 35 quid - money well spent as on the way home driveability just off the throttle was improved. I was surprised how much of a difference could be gained from small adjustments of the mixture screws on the idle circuit.

They finished off by telling me not to bring it back for WOT and max power tuning as their dyno was only rated up to 400 BHP!

Nonetheless.... and handy little outfit to have on your doorstep.

By the time I was back home that was now 475 miles on the clock..... then it started raining! So hopefully a few more miles on Saturday morning then I can change the oil and start to increase the revs.

Ohh...... and on the way home one of the bonnet hinge pins fell out!!! Good job I had some gaffer tape in the boot. I have now replaced it and checked the other one is tight. Remember to check things that are not on the SVA/IVA inspectors list!