After having made some carburetor adjustments, the car now takes a long time, and lots of gas-pedal-pumping, to start it up. Runs pretty smooth once started, however. It's a '75 Valiant with Holley 1945. I'm trying to keep it stock but coming close to giving up on the smog stuff.

Anyway, while working on the carb I noticed that the fast-idle screw was in the wrong place so I had been getting no fast idle. I fixed that, and now I have fast idle a-plenty but only after the long start up. Any ideas? Thanks!

have you check the choke? when my Holley 1920 started to get slow for starting and was ´couze choke was close, I changed it and everything works fine, also you have check your starter motor?

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

Yeah, I worked on the choke (and heat riser) last night and thought I had it starting and running well. I was trying to get it ready for this morning - my daughter needed it for a doctor's appointment and it was the only car available. But it let her down big time. When it would finally start, it would stall on her once she dropped it into gear. So it's dead in the road now and it's back to the drawing board for me.
One thing I noticed on the carb is that there is not much range of motion in the accelerator pump arm. I did the measurement as called-for when I rebuilt the carb but it doesn't look like it travels very far when the throttle moves from closed to wide open.
Also, when I look down the throat of the carb as I open up the throttle, I don't see any gas being shot into it. Shouldn't a see a stream of fuel as I move the throttle to wide open?
Any ideas on what I should focus on next?

if you wanna some cheap, reliable and painless fix, get rid of the smog thing, throw that 1945 in a chicken yard and get yourself a 1920. This li'l carb is one of the sturdyest, dependable ones I ever had. (just my 2 cents)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

As Argentina-slanter sayd, get rid of that carb and get a Holley 1920 or a Carter carb, looks like fuel pump is not working well

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

Fuel line mod to improve starting

And yeah, the 1945s can be really -- dare I say it? -- persnickety. Carter BBS or carefully-picked Holley 1920 if you're sticking w/1bbl.

No Dan, its more like this. 1945's SUCK!! I am blessed with two of them. The one on my car is a tempermental little bastard. Does wrapping fuel lines in tinfoil alleviate any hot starting problems?

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Thanks for the fuel line mod idea - it makes good sense

After today I am ready to block off the EGR opening and de-smog the thing! it As for the carb switch, would the Holley 1920 be more compatible with my current choke, kickdown and throttle linkages than the Carter?
Thanks again.

Carter BBS and Holley 1920 are both compatible with your linkages and other attachments. The one I have consistently good results with is the BBS specced for the 1971 Dart or Valiant with 198 slant-6. Tough to find a GOOD rebuild. I seem to remember seeing a fairly strong guarantee program at www.rockauto.com , though.

Aluminum EGR blockoff plates go by on eBay all the time, but be prepared to rework your dist advance curve to compensate. Do bypass your OSAC valve!

Excellent, timely info, Dan........ I am searching on the web as we speak!

But, given that all working carbs suck, don't you mean they don't suck...?
No. Neither does clipping clothespins onto the fuel line. Neither does wrapping your head in tinfoil

No, really, that actually does keep people from standing too close to you.
Not to metion the simplest carb i can think of. Never had any starting problems and very easy to rebuild and adjust.

I've seen lawn mowers with more complex carbs.
The egr is not a bad thing to have unless it's stuck in the open position, or causing a vacuum leak. It's much more common for them to get clogged shut and do nothing at all.

A working egr valve should improve mileage, reduce ping (allowing you to buy cheaper gas) and not hurt performance at wide open throttle.

Like anything, they require service sometimes to keep them working properly.

I'd like to someday get the EGR timer working on my truck to see if I can help my poor mileage and loaded ping out of the picture.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

Clipping clothespins on fuel lines. How in the hell is that supposed to help the heat problem

Dan, I do need to reroute my fuel line to follow your example. Probably my problem right there.

Wrapping your head in tinfoil

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Isn't it more like relocating the fuel filter behind the alternator and replacing the line with the non-mettalic material as suggested?

Clothespins? Jeb, that's a great question. I have no idea why so many people believe this, but a lot of people do. When most cars still had carburetors, It was written up (with nice illustrations) dozens of times in those "Helpful Handy Car Hints" sections of magazines like Popular Mechanics.

R. Wood: Yep, you've got it right. Rerouting the metal fuel line wouldn't help much.