CK5
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1986 K30 - Rapid Learning

Get 'er cleaned up and solid.
I'm psyched we got a new gas station 4 miles from my house selling clear gas. Used to have to drive 20 miles.
We got a QT 2 years ago about 3-4 miles from the house selling it. Stuff ain’t cheap that’s for sure. Last I checked it was like $3.50/gal.
 
I run ethanol in everything I own.

A lot of them sit for months at a time.

It’s odd how pro but American everyone is, except for buying corn grown in America……

Martin
 
I run ethanol in everything I own.

A lot of them sit for months at a time.

It’s odd how pro but American everyone is, except for buying corn grown in America……

Martin
I got nothing against corn in general. I happen to eat it in many forms. But as a blend of 15% in regular gasoline in vehicles that were never designed or intended to run it, ethanol blend is a bad idea.

We have the corrosive properties of ethanol plus what it does to rubber that was not designed for it. So carbs get a nice crusty white corrosion going on in the float bowls, the tip of the needle melts and old rubber lines turn to mush on the inside.

Then we have the fact that ethanol by volume has less power per gallon than gasoline. So on a modern car that can sense the fuel blend can adjust the fuel delivery rates to compensate. We all know unless we rejet a carb it's not going to compensate for the needed extra volume of fuel.

People say the 15% isn't enough to impact fuel mileage. I've seen it on each one of my trucks. Each one runs better, starts cleaner in cold temps or higher elevations and does get better mileage. I've done back to back tanks in the same truck and seen the difference.

Everyone can have different results for sure. Those are what I've seen.

E85 for a dedicated build with more compression and the ability to deliver the fuel is awesome for power. Nothing against that either. Just like in most things trying to force a one size fits all fuel at the general public it does not always work. It's nothing against the American grown corn that's for sure.
 
I run ethanol in everything I own.

A lot of them sit for months at a time.

It’s odd how pro but American everyone is, except for buying corn grown in America……

Martin
I don’t have any issues in my modern fuel injected vehicles but all of my carb vehicles//tools it gums stuff up after a while. I do get better mileage with non ethanol though.
 
UGH!!! I hate methanol in fuel. I'm in the process of rebuilding a motorcycle carb that just about every piece of rubber has been destroyed.
 
Methanol tweeker blend take your carb apart and cleans 3x a night, or until the screw threads are worn out
 
Hey guys, when I go to prime the carb on this thing, should I only put gas into the vent tube? I have been doing one squirt in the vent tube and another squirt down the throat of the carb. Does squirting gas directly into the throat of the carb harm anything?
 
Realistically just a squirt in the vent doesn't help immensely. You'd like to put enough in there to fill the float bowl. The idea being it can draw on that fuel while the rest of the system gets primed up.

We have to dump gas in the Skylark and I just use the fuel can and kinda pour in the vent tube and throat of the carb. It just needs a couple of splashes. I would guess maybe 2 tablespoons maybe a 1/4 cup at the most. Like @cheavyk10 mentioned, the worst that can happen is you put too much in a flood it. But you'd have to get pretty carried away for that.

Also make sure you stand clear of the engine when starting after dumping the fuel in. Lots of stories about people getting f'd up standing over the motor and having the motor backfire thru the carb. I'm sure there are some that were actively pouring fuel while doing it, which is really bad.
 
A couple squirts of ether in the air cleaner snorkel, is all you need, and you don't need to get gas on your hands or open the air cleaner.
as Mrk5 said the idea of using the vent tube is to fill the bowl so the carb can work and use the choke. Gas down the throat is unmetered so could be rich esp if choke is closed and you have a heavy pour.
 
Why are you having to prime your carburetor?

Martin
Our lovely ethanol fuel evaporates pretty quickly. Add the normal q-jet float bowl leaking and it’s not uncommon to have the bowl be dry.

I’m betting that carb has never had the casting plugs in the bottom of the main body epoxied in to stop the fuel leak.
 
Why are you having to prime your carburetor?

Martin

Our lovely ethanol fuel evaporates pretty quickly. Add the normal q-jet float bowl leaking and it’s not uncommon to have the bowl be dry.

I’m betting that carb has never had the casting plugs in the bottom of the main body epoxied in to stop the fuel leak.

The previous owner installed the carb and intake but never tuned the carb. He said it ran well enough and didn't bother. I haven't gotten to it yet, but the truck came with an Edelbrock CD-ROM that explains how to tune it. I'm really excited to give that a try.

@Bent77 tuned it a little bit for me when I was at his house over last summer and it helped tremendously.

@mrk5 also mentioned that it probably needs to be adjusted for our elevation here in Denver. That makes a lot of sense to me because I would guess that Edelbrock sets them to a default tuning that works for "most Americans", and obviously Denver is higher up than a lot of other towns.

As far as leaks go, I wouldn't be surprised... however the intake and carb are pretty new so maybe it's not leaking but I still need to give it a good look-over.
 
So I was thinking quadrajet, this is an AFB ?
Still ethenol fuel can evaporate quickly, AFB seem to have smaller bowls.
 
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