Long story short, I have battled the fuel system on my 76 Dart Lite.
Multiple fuel pumps, clogged return lines, carbs, etc. This AM, it starts to idle funny. After shutting down at work, it is leaking past the grommet for the accelerator pump rod (grommet is relatively new), and leaking past the throttle shaft. Fuel is boiling (did the fuel line mod already), but the newest trick is it leaking past acc pump rod and throttle shaft. Hopefully it gets me home.

I am reaching a bit of a breaking point.

This car is about ready to go into the garage for sheetmetal and paint work.

I am going to be installing a spare /6 (gaskets, re-ring, etc) with an OD 4 speed, and 8 3/4 after paint is done.
Long term goals are to fab a simple turbo system, much like Shaker's car (stock exhaust manifold sealed, GN turbo, Air to Air intercooler, 4 bbl blow through, etc)

Now the question:
4 bbl intakes, which ones work with stock manifolds, and do any of them have the ability to accept a spread bore carb? (I have a 0-6210 650 spread bore double pump Holley, which needs minimal mods to work in blow through application, according to my research)

In the short term before turbo, I want to run it n/a with the 4 bbl and then when turbo manifests itself.

Which intake do I need to be looking for? The 1 bbl is getting chucked, soon, cause I am tired of F-ing with it.

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

I don't know if or how well the Offenhauser intake will accept a spread-bore carb, but this intake will work with a stock exhaust manifold.

_________________
"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

What specifically about the Clifford intake does not fit? Does it have anything to do with sealing the top of the exhaust manifold?

I ask as I plan on having the exhaust manifold sealed at that point, to avoid blowout when the turbo comes into play.

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

You may have considered this already, but it sounds like you have a bad gas tank and/or fuel lines. The tank can rust or corrode up, and all that eventually makes it way through the system to the carb. These bits of crud start to abrade the lines and fittings and start to cause drivability problems and leaks. If you're going to do the other things, this might be a good first step, otherwise it will continue to happen no matter what carb you have.

_________________

63 Dart GT Convertible

Good point, but most of this has been addressed.
Tank has been dropped, thoroughly rinsed, and re-installed.
Lines are somewhat a question, but vehicle has been a runner for quite some time, it has not sat for LONG periods of time, especially under my tenure. Lines are next if nothing improves.

As it sits now, at idle, fuel is seeping from gasket that separates main body and top of carb. When RPM increases, the additional air flow dries the wall, but it seeps again at idle. Upon shutoff, it squirts fuel out the air bleeds, and fuel drains out of the booster, bad. Fuel sits on the throttle blade, and leaks out the shafts. All of this happened after 3-4 minutes of idling in parking lot at work over lunch.

I have a carb kit coming, and I will install it tonight. I wonder about float, needle and seat, and gaskets. Instinct says it is carb problem, and that the fuel system might be adequate, for this powerhouse.

Ultimately, I still want to move to the 4 bbl setup. I have the carb waiting, so the next part of the recipe is the intake. What about the Clifford does not work with stock intake?

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

Where a stock intake manifold bolts to a stock exhaust manifold is where the Clifford intake will not "mate up". An offenhauser will work with a stock exhaust manifold.

_________________
"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

The clifford shorty is meant to be used with headers, it has no provision to bolt together with the stock manifold...The Hyperpak repro can work, but you will have to put a plate over the heat stove and seal it...then spend a bit of time with a grinder and some wax/wd-40 on the runners to get them to fit with the manifold flanges. The offy will bolt properly, but you will need to get an adaptor to run the spreadbore carb on the manifold that has the adaptor for a square bore carb.... I think the same will occur with the Hurricane intakes- cap off heatstove and adaptor for spreadbore.

-D.Idiot

The problem with the existing carb sounds like a bad float or needle and seat. The carb kit comes with the needle and seat, but the float is sold separately.

The Offy intake with a stock exhaust manifold is a good street setup. I run this with a 390 Holley on my '67 Valiant. If this is a daily driver you really are better off with a heated manifold and exhaust heat is much faster than water heat. I was considering a Quadra-Jet on a slant, but hadn't settled on which manifold. I have the Offy, the Clifford Ram Flow and a Clifford made Hyper-Pak. The Hyper Pak manifold is getting an Edelbrock carb as it's essentially an AFB and is much more period correct.

_________________
Joshua

I hate this Fing carb.
I really do.

I rebuilt it last night. I added a new float. The foam float that was in there seemed to be floating, but what the heck, give it a try.

The new float is brass, and was slightly tweaked. I could not find a problem with the top to main body gasket, but replaced it anyway. The carb had some schmutzs in it, but it blasted out with carb cleaner.

Re-assembled, and it idled rough for a few seconds (burn off the raw fuel from shut down 3 hours previously, and ran smooth. Idled for 5 minutes, shut down, no boil, no leaks, FIXED.

Headed home a while later (did this at buddies house, car night), 5 minutes in city, 10 on highway. Stopped for burger on the way home, shut it down at speaker, ordered food, started right up. Shut down at pickup window, got food, and it flooded. Died in parking lot. Puking fuel EVERYWHERE. I was a few blocks from home, made it by feathering throttle between 1 and 1.5 million RPM, and got it in the driveway.

I really want to keep it a slant to stick with the Dart Lite heritage, but it is really starting to test my patience.

I will tear the carb off again tonight, and mess with the floats, again.
Anything else I should be looking for besides an exorcist?

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

If you get even a tiny spec of dirt stuck to the needle valve it will allow excess fuel into the bowl and it will flood. Take the needle and seat out and examine it with a magnifying glass under a strong light. See if there is dirt on the needle or seat.

Get a new fuel filter. Make sure the filter isn't plastic or glass. Wix (Napa Gold) is fine. Replace the fuel line between the filter and carb so you are 100% certain you aren't putting more junk in the carb.

Rinsing the gas tank won't do. If there was any rust in the tank it has to be chemically cleaned very carefully or blasted clean. It's really not worth cleaning the old tank since new tanks are available. I had to throw out the gas tanks for my '67 Valiant and my '72 Dart.

_________________
Joshua

The fuel filter is a week old. It is a plastic one, bought so I could see what is going on. If this setup survives, I will buy one of the better ones, but I needed to be able to see if filter was pumping in the short term. At the same time as replacing the pump, I did the fuel line modification, with new rubber hose from filter to carb. The needle and seat are new as of last night.

I am going to tear it apart, again, and see what is happening. It feels like a float set problem but why would it work and then all of the sudden fall out of adjustment? I will see if there is any crap getting through the filter when I tear it apart tonight.


I may end up with a new tank, but in the short term, the original tank was in pretty good shape. I rinsed it as best I could and it had a new fuel filter after the flush, that accumulated some stuff, but nothing terrible.
Thanks for the ideas, I will try again.

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

Backtobasics,

The needle and seat are crucial to stopping the fuel from coming in. Sounds like you could use a lower float setting to keep more pressure on it.

A couple of things that may also be going on besides a worn needle and seat. One is rust from the old fuel line. When I replaced mine I was shocked at how rusty it was inside.......the fuel pump could be full or rust accumulation too. Heat soak doesn't help either. If you have a iffy (too high of a float setting) or worn needle, the expansion from the hot fuel makes it even worse.

Click on the red link below my name and double click on the picture when it comes up for full screen slide show mode. You will see the fuel filter/water separator that I installed which filters down to the 2 micron level. It removes all particles including water and my carb bowl is always clean. You may want to make a heat deflector which helps the heat soak problem.

I hope you master this problem. Hang in there.....

_________________
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

Progress.

I tore it apart AGAIN last night.

I am quite sure the problem was the parts store metal float. It was tweaked in the box, I did my best to straighten it 2 days ago but I think as heat came into the equation it swelled and got pinched, leaving the needle and seat open.

I put back in a foam float from a spare carb, and tweaked the pressure on needle and seat.

I also fashioned a retainer to keep the float down at the pivot point. I seem to recall some type of metal band that went from one side to the other to prevent the float from raising up out of its groove in the main body of the carb, but neither this carb or spare had one. I may have missed it, or it might have been on old carb. I bent one up from some wire, and made it just tall enough that the top of the carb sat against it, pushing it down, while still allowing the float to move.
Once it appeared happy, I let engine warm up, and adjusted air fuel mixture, and idle.
No problems on the way into work today, so far so good. Since I am superstitious, will not proclaim a victory as I did before, just that it is working for now. Maybe I won't jynx myself this time!

_________________
1976 Dart Lite /6 3 Speed

Great work!
Glad you remembered the keeper! Kind of important if you want the gas to shut off when the bowl is full........

Maybe you could get a keeper from a carb rebuild shop.

_________________
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