I'll be driving from home (30 miles north of Houston) to 9 miles west of Fredericksburg, Tx to watch the initial site work being done in preparation for the new place. 234 miles one way. I'm going to camp in the back of the truck tomorrow night and come home late Friday. If you see a '52 GMC flatbed busted down on the side of US 290, TX 21 or TX 71 give me a wave. I'll let you know how it went when I get back. So far, the two tanks of gas I've run through the truck since putting in the HEI kit have made no appreciable difference in mileage.
Sorry to hear about the gas mileage thing. The camping thing sounds cool~ You already have your bed, so... I'll have my fingers crossed for you that things go great! I'm going to wait until school's out to take a trip of any length. Lots of little ones and going through it a couple of times to check how everything is holding together first. I believe you have already had it out on the open road a few times for trips of 40+ miles, right Bill?
Let me know if you need a tow, I'll load up the old 37 Buick and help you out. My wife wants to go back to Fredericksburg to finish up the tour of the War of the Pacific museum and look at some of the Sunday Houses. It's rumored one can find German food around there. Best friends widow lives at Kerrville so when your ready for visitors let all of us know.
Made it back with no problems. Averaged 16 3/4 MPG over about 500 miles, mostly 65-70 MPH with about 10 miles of heavy, very slow (0-25 MPH) traffic. My back, legs and butt hurt.
Sounds exactly right, you have 3/4 the number of cylinders as the old straight eight and it gets 13.8 on long trips. It may be illegal but I HAVE to use the throttle for short distances to let me wiggle around and stretch out my legs. No doubt the suspension/brakes/handling/tiny wiper blades/seat/ and the lack everything else that has been upgraded through the years makes one more tired when traveling long distances in vehicles designed for 45 mph. Still a lot of fun.
I pulled the hand throttle out of my GMC because a previous someone had replaced the original Zenith 28 carb with a Carter YF. The throttle cable was still in the cab, but was too short to connect to the YF. I pulled the cable and filled the hole with a high-beam lamp which the makers of the electronic speedo with no high-beam indicator that the DPO had put in. I probably would have used the hand throttle now and then, given the option. I've bought a Zenith 228 (with an adjustable high speed jet), but the YF works well enough that I can wait for the Zenith. I'll get a 228 kit soon and have it ready when the YF needs work. Cold starts are immediate. Hot starts too, if you just leave the engine off for a short time. The only problem the YF has now is a slow start after it has been heated up good and then allowed to sit for 20 minutes or so. I'm guessing heated gas is boiling over and flooding. Wide open throttle, 3-4 seconds of cranking and it'll start even in this condition. And you are right Evan. Lots of fun. 500 miles of 70-75 degree warm, sunny driving with the driver's side window open, blues turned up loud on the radio, many waves and thumbs-up. Funny that there is a LOT less buffeting in my '52 GMC than I my wife's 2008 Toyota Highlander. Opening both front windows in the Highlander over 50 MPH is like putting your head inside a bass drum.
Bill ; After installing the HEI did you remember to open up the spark plug gaps to at least .065" ?? . Then do a ' throttle ping test ' ? . all these might help your fuel economy and will definitely unleash more power .
Deve's instructions had the plugs set at 0.045", which is where I put them. Maybe I should open them up a bit?? It wouldn't hurt to pull them and check color anyway. I know how to do the ping test (and what to do if I detect ping), but as noisy as these old trucks are I'm afraid the engine might be pinging and I wouldn't be able to hear it. I'm already running the timing "on the BB", then adjusting the octane selector half way between zero and the A (advanced) mark. That should add another 5+ degrees.
I need to give that a try~ There seems to be a bit of pinging with my 228. It's timed to the BB, but the octane selector is right on zero.
If it is timed to the BB and zero on the octane selector I doubt that you have a real ignition "ping". If it is a ping, it is most likely a hot spot (maybe carbon buildup) in one or more cylinders, which won't be fixed by changing timing.
I sure wish I knew how one of these was supposed to sound~ It was such a perfect day temp wise, I had to take my G for another spin. It fires right up and drives without a miss anywhere. It just has a bunch of pinging going on from time to time. Not so much under power. I never did a hot valve adjustment, so I look forward to what that does for it. Everything in the engine is just the way it was when I bought it. Old/original everything.
Pinging (pre-ignition) is almost always worse under power. Maybe you just forgot to tighten your lug nuts and one of them fell off inside your hub cap???
Sounds like a good trip, Bill. Next time we get together maybe we can retune mine a little and improve my mileage. I can't seem to get better than about 12mpg. I also think my float is set too high, so that can't help.
Simple non mechanic thing to try : drain the fuel and try some hi test 91 octane fuel ~ if this noise stops , you'll know there's something going on ~ might be old carbon built up or the head was shaved , raising the compression ratio.... Remember : K.I.S.S. ! .
