Hi all
I just bought a 78 Aspen 4 door , powder blue with 22,000 original miles , it is the Super 6 with a BBD . I threw on a nice set of Ralleys and put in a AmFmCb radio with the correct factory antenna . The car does have some serious rust issues but its still a 5 footer . I luckily found this site and have spent several hours reading posts , and I do have a few items that I havnt seen covered .

1st problem I had with this car is the original alt belt wont stay tight , and the replacement wont either . I have to retightned about every 200 miles or so , Im getting the bolts tight .

2nd even though the car ran decent with the original tune up parts I decided to change them . I found a vac leak using that fancy tool (carb cleaner) at the base gasket . I decided to rebuild the carb myself and replace the floats (oops) this was way beyond me . So the only parts changed are the gaskets,floats,and pump. The 2 plastic adjustment sleeves for the metering rods are not in the same place (I had alot of trouble putting them back together) .
Well anyway the car runs near perfect but my concern is that I now have the mixture screws at 6 and 1/4 turns when they were at about 3 turns , I don't know if i've caused an issue or not . I would like to know if I did something wrong ? A 100 mile trip on the highway going 70 to 80 (more 80) gave me a little over 18mpg .

I haven't done the fuel line mod yet since i'm having trouble locating those fittings. And i'm currently in the middle of the GM HEI mod which I don't see which plug to use on this year engine at .045 gap .

Thanks for this site Jim

Welcome to the board.

I am using the NGK UR4 6630 plugs on a 78 head. They work very well gapped at .040.

Sounds like your missing the top brace that holds the alternator in place. There is a bracket on the bottom by the coil it pivots on and a straight top brace from the engine head. If both at tight, I would check the pulley at the water pump to be sure it is tight.

For reference my old 77 Volare would get 24 mpg mixed city and freeway driving and 28 on trips with the Super Six. Sounds like the rods are too high.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Welcome on the board. Low-miles cars are like nothing else, and even if this one's rusty you should get good service out of it once it's tidied up and put right. You'll want to pick up a factory service manual for the car; the aftermarket books (Chilton, Haynes, etc.) will tend to lead you astray. And here's the downloadable Carter BBD operation and repair manual (pdf) that'll get you up to speed on the carb repair. The belt slack issue should be pretty easy to nail down; Ted's probably on the right track pointing you at a missing upper alternator slider bracket (or the hole into the alternator could be stripped so the bolt loosens up).

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thank You so much for the responses , I will defiantly look for that service manual . And will read up on that carb material you linked me to,and see if I can readjust those rods.
I do have the top bracket on the alt, and the bolts remain tight . The best guess I have is the replacement belt must be the wrong width .

As far as the rust ,its pretty much internal . The car was parked for several years with a tarp on it ,but the cowl was full of pine needles , it rotted the entire heating system out .i've repaired most of it with fiberglass.Inside the back doors have some rust (not the doors themselves) , one of the rear wheel opening has a small chunk out of it but you have to be right of top of it to notice it,and the underside of the hood and deck are shot (having trouble finding replacements). With enough sunlight and if you hold your head just right , you can find maybe 3 (small)door dings on the original paint . No kidding if you stand more than 5 feet from the car its incredable even underneath .I will upload a picture of it when I make one as I am very proud of it ,and $790 for the car isn't bad either.

Check the pulleys for rust in the "V" grooves. Many times, on a non running car, the pulleys will get rusty. They then act like sandpaper on the belt, and the belt will keep getting loose. If that is the case, try sanding the rust off the pulleys. If they are too bad, they might have to be replaced.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225