Hotrod Lincoln, you made me think of the first engine I rebuilt. A 1962 Austin Healey Sprite with the 1 Liter engine. Dual SU carburetors. I bought a Uni-Syn to try to get them close, and it ran fine, but I didn't have any confidence, so I took it to a dealership to have it done by a professional.

About 3 months later one cylinder quit firing. It was in the middle of a trip so I kept on trucking and it was running on 2 1/2 by the end of the trip. So I popped the cylinder off and noticed that the #4 exhaust valve was missing at least 1/3 of it's skirt, and #3 wasn't much better.

Those were sodium filled valves and I think they cost about $16 apiece. Big bucks for a poor college student in 1973.

When I checked the carbs I found out that the had been adjusted so that the front SU had to open to 2/3 before the rear carb started opening. I have no idea how they did that, but I never let anyone else adjust them after that. It ran fine for years, and got nearly 40 mpg on occasion.


195? Chevy 3800 dump truck
1973 Chevy C30 cab and chassis
1987 Suburban 3/4 ton 6.2L Diesel