Call me crazy - Ranchero's (again)

**dhbfaster** · June 24th, 2019, 02:50 PM

According to this website there are 314 places in Washington that sell ethanol free gas. I think I’ll try it next time.

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WA

**Jeff W** · June 27th, 2019, 06:31 PM

Kenny managed not to drop it!

**Luva65wagon** · June 27th, 2019, 11:50 PM

dhbfaster: According to this website there are 314 places in Washington that sell ethanol free gas. I think I’ll try it next time.

I don't see one place close by. I'm going to be trying this stuff to see if it works well. Reviews are really good and it might be about the same cost (ethanol free is more costly) in the long run.

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Jeff W: Kenny managed not to drop it!

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Gene and I are heading over to see Jeff and Kenny at Starbucks Headquarters tomorrow to get it, and I'll follow Gene back to his place with the Ranchero and will begin the process of doing the swap. Haven't seen anyone here raising their hands to come out and participate (which looks to be this weekend, the 29th), so should be interesting if it's just Gene and I. But it's a direct swap for the most part, so should go pretty smoothly.

**Jeff W** · June 28th, 2019, 01:26 PM

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?

**beerbelly** · June 28th, 2019, 02:12 PM

Hilarious! must be an inside joke for the rebuilder.

**SmithKid** · June 28th, 2019, 09:16 PM

Or possibly the "RECEIVER" of the shipment with a weird sense of humor. That little "defilement" made the entire pallet almost fall out of the transport vehicle.

**Luva65wagon** · June 28th, 2019, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by beerbelly

Hilarious! must be an inside joke for the rebuilder.

Or something left in Jeff's hands too long.

Suffice it to say, the day didn't go well after this meet-up with Jeff (and his fine Starbucks history tour). As much as we shot for getting down south before traffic got too heavy - silly me to think there is ever a time anymore when traffic isn't too heavy. Maybe 2 AM. But not 2 PM. Made it to Pacific on SR-167 and I could no longer get the car to shift correctly. Like the clutch pedal throw was no longer correct. Scramble ensued to get off the freeway, trying another route, failed, ended up at Dairy Queen calling AAA and towed it to Gene's place. The bright side? The tow truck driver had to deal with the traffic.

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By the time we go everything to Gene's, off-loaded and uncrated the motor, staged the car in the garage... we were both done. So the day begins tomorrow again at 9. Should be a better day of progress.

**SmithKid** · June 28th, 2019, 09:42 PM

It's in my garage.

**Luva65wagon** · August 9th, 2019, 10:52 AM

Well, it's been a few weeks since I drove the car home from Gene's, but with summer travels and other summer commitments, I've found almost zero time to futz with it to get it dialed in. I did discover the builder had added some balance to the harmonic balancer, so I did swap that out. Also got new plug wires and swapped the coil, since I sliced a plug wire or two on the separators (edges were so sharp, so I filed them all before putting on the new ones).

I also can't get it to run correctly on this Summit carburetor on the idle circuit. I can turn in both idle air screws and it will run. I ordered some air bleed screws and new jets for it from Summit, but there is not a lot of information out there on what bits to swap. It was running really rich before - to the point of making my eyes melt out of their sockets - and the last change I made seems to have improved that, but it didn't change the idle circuit issue.

Soooo.... I dug out all my 4100 Autolite carbs and just finished building one of those to see if it will work better. Just ordered an electric choke part (not gonna use a stove pipe version) and a new fitting to convert inverted flare to an-6 to get it installed. Fingers crossed it will improve enough to drive it, as I'm not sure what I'll do failing that. Fuel Injection or another brand carburetor - again. I've sold off 2 Edelbrocks and 3 Holleys because they're so finicky (in my previous uses of them). The 4100 is a very basic and highly respected carburetor - for as old it is - but that is the crux. They are hard to find in usable shape. Of the 4 I had (2 @ 1.08 and 2 @ 1.12 - 480 and 600 CFM, respectively), I only had one 1.12 I could build. Lots of parts though. Stay tuned.

**Jeff W** · August 11th, 2019, 06:08 PM

Your shop has a nice window above your bench. Stop your bellyaching

I'm sure you will get your gas issue figured out. You are a smart dude.

**Luva65wagon** · August 19th, 2019, 09:32 PM

After two different Autolite 4100's and neither doing justice to this motor I decided, after reading oodles of reviews on the thing, to get a Demon brand Street Demon carburetor and tuning kit for this motor. While I'm At It™ I also decided it was time to improve the ignition system of it too, so picked up a MSD 6AL for it. I figure I can sell off the 2 rebuilt Autolite 4100's (and parts from 2 others) and the Summit Carb and tuning kit, which works, but I just can't figure out how to tune it, to pay for all this. There is still a slim chance I might see a car show this year.

Progress on the garage is still the same. Trusses are ordered and the delivery of these determines when they start all the other work. I'm having a lot of tree work done this week to get the space prep'd further.

**Luva65wagon** · August 27th, 2019, 10:38 AM

After another week of waiting for the "correct" little red inlet fitting on the Demon carburetor, the Ranchero, with its new motor, finally runs like I hoped this combination would. Added the MSD box as well, but not sure I can tell if it added anything perceptible. We'll see.

I am baffled a bit by the current interference fit of the headers and the engine compartment. Seems like the new heads are wider than the stock heads, or something, so the headers are zero clearance on the passenger side against the frame (near the idler arm bracket) and only 1/8" on the driver side. Seems I had far more clearance before. Lacking a floor and a working jack (mine started leaking like a sieve, so I got rid of it) - it's gonna wait. It's drivable.

So now I have to focus on getting the area for the (upcoming) garage ready for a construction crew - and find a place to stash the Ranchero and pickup out of the way while construction is underway.

So... on another note... where is everyone?

**Gitanesteel** · August 30th, 2019, 10:39 PM

Looking good Roger. I really like the valve covers with the black and red.

Been really busy here but got the transmission smoking issue figured out. The shop overfilled it - by over a quart. Looks to be fine now.

**Luva65wagon** · August 30th, 2019, 11:52 PM

Thanks Scott. I think the red/black thing matched the rest of the car. I'm just a little bummed no that it's all done... all the car shows are pretty much past. Missed the mini down south by just a week or so. And driving it in Seattle traffic - just to drive it - is not what I call fun. Have been trying to see if there are any cruise-in spots in the vicinity, but can only find them way south or way north. Oh well. Next year.

Glad you found out your transmission issue.

Just goes to show how critical fluid levels in a transmission can be. Didn't see a resolution posted on FB, but may have missed it.