Brtele

I agree Jim. I might run the numbers again for a 3rd and 4th time just to make sure my numbers are accurate - it's a little tough doing it with two hands - might get the wife to come out and hold the throttle steady (yeah right).

Ok, I had a chance to slightly reduce my idle timing and check some various mechanical/vacuum advance points. Again, dwell set dead nuts at 30. Fuel is 91 octane - no ethanol. Spark plugs are .035 gapped R45S plugs Vacuum Blocked - Mechanical Only: 530 - hair below 2 800 - 8 1100 - 13 1600 - 19 2000 - 20 (I should've checked where the mechanical was "all-in", but let's just assume it's 2000 for s&g's) 2300 - 20 Vacuum Hooked Back up: 530 - 20 800 - 23 900 - 26 1200 - 33 2200 - 38 anything above 2200 was holding steady at 38. Turned the car off and it started right back up no issues at all. This morning the car was dead cold and after a single pump - it fired right off - maybe even faster than before. The engine seems to be a little smoother at idle in drive. I previously had a very slight vibration (felt like a mild cam), which seems to be smoothed out (might be placebo - who knows). Acceleration performance difference was negligible - couldn't tell if it was better/worse. I'm pretty sure I still had some slight detonation at 3/4 throttle when accelerating the car from 20mph to 40ish - it's not there all the time and I kind of have to work to get the engine to do it. I'm starting to think I need to leave this well enough alone and keep my foot away from that range/situation, enjoy the car and find something else to focus my attention. Please let me know if you guys/gals read anything way out of line. Thanks again, Brandon

Yes, all stock ignition (as far as I know - don't know previous history). Agree with your thoughts. I'm going to further test today/tomorrow.

Forgot to attach the timing graph I'm working from.

After I had the exhaust buttoned up last week, the car obviously ran much quieter, but I could now hear detonation/ping during heavy load. I kept my foot out of the gas and got it back home to start working through items to determine causes. - I'm running 91 octane no ethanol - Dwell is dead nuts 30 degrees and doesn't move when I blip the throttle - Timing set to 2.5 btdc with the vacuum plugged and the idle set to 550ish - holds steady. - I didn't run the rpms up with the vacuum disconnected from the dist to see what the mechanical advance is. - I did connect the vacuum back up and ran the rpms up to 1,600 and got a steady timing reading of 38. Based on the attached graph, that's pretty high for this rpm. I'm going to check my vacuum advance across some points and run through what might be happening (bushings gone, etc.), but ran out of time yesterday - Chiefs game. We'll see what we find, but will keep the group posted. Thanks,

I've read through your trials and tribulations when I started having some shaft issues. Are you stating you would recommend replacing the u-joints on the front and rear of the shaft? I was going to leave the middle "stuff" alone.

I'm pretty sure the groan is a u-joint - I can get it to do it at various speeds under 10mph with an increased load. It also presents itself above 55mph when I let off the gas. But the chirp is definitely gone after center bearing greasing. I guess the driveshaft rebuild is now on the winter list - kind of higher priority - time to start the exhaustive research procedure.

I agree, but I've now gotta figure out how to get behind the HVAC controller to change everything. I just don't know if I can muster the motivation over simply putting on a coat and gloves while I drive (too many choices).

Oh man - I'm really dreading getting to behind the heater control unit to check where I'm losing vacuum in the path from the vacuum tank to the heater control valve. I'm starting to research how much of a contortionist I'm going to have to become for this scope. I have a large exhaust leak that I couldn't handle myself, so dropped it off at an exhaust shop 25 minutes from the house. The exhaust leak presents itself up through the shifter hole - so windows up driving is a no-no. But it's 25 degrees with no heater valve operation! Passenger window slightly cracked, driver's smoker window opened for fresh air. Dude, it got cold - I gotta figure out this heater valve quickly.

Update - I was able to grease the Center Bearing plug a few weeks ago and have drove approximately 60 miles at various speeds and have yet to hear the chirping. Fingers crossed.

Ok, so I'm working towards addressing a couple of other outstanding items. I have the following "noises" going on: I have a very slight groan at initial take-off (0-3mph). Can't feel it, just hear it. It's only under load and I can't replicate it between gears when rolling - Only at initial take-off. I know noises can travel, but it really feels like rear of the car. Separate item: while cruising anywhere from 35-50mph, I sometimes (intermittently) get a chirping sound. I could've swore it was birds chirping, but no way I'm hearing the same bird chirping along with me at 45mph, lol. From reading similar threads this could be a center bearing? I have not replaced my rear diff fluid, but have it planned in the near future. This is a non posi rear. I have also lightly greased all zercs I can find. Rear driveshaft joint is sealed - no zerk. Thanks for any pointers in the right direction.

Tank installed and sending unit reading correct. Pretty straightforward replacement. Please let me know if anyone wants this tank. No leaks, but has some rust in the inside. Otherwise I’m going to depose of the tank. On to the next...rear seatbelt installation

I siphoned the gas out of the old tank today and removed the tank. It really wasn’t too difficult. The rubber fuel lines were still functional but in need of replacement. I’m having trouble testing my fuel sending unit with my fluke meter so u I think I’m going to hand tighten a couple of screws and hook it up to the Buick’s harness to see where I’m at on E and F. I’ll probably also knock some loose surface rust off and treat before putting the new tank up. Inside the fuel lines don’t appear bad either (the little bit I can see - fingers crossed).

Thanks for the recommendations and will definitely follow your advice. The fuel pump I used was a car quest from Advanced (Typically not my first choice, but they had one and I thought why not). I followed your fuel pump thread and mine is technically not correct, but it’s working. I really shouldn’t talk much more about it for fear of jinxing the pump (knock on wood).

I have no idea. I'll find out once I drop the tank.

After I installed a new fuel pump, I installed a new clear Wix fuel filter before the fuel pump to see if I was catching any tank debris before it reached the pump. I've ran 3 full tanks through the engine and I've replaced the pre-pump filter at least (3) times due to a ton of rust accumulation. I thought the rust would start to subside, but I now believe it's time to replace the tank. I've purchased a new tank and sending unit from BestOfferCounts (James) and looking forward to running clean fuel and removing the pre-pump filter.

With some parts from Tom Mooney, I now no longer have to worry about accidentally dropping my keys into the abyss created by the existing broken shifter dust cover. Also purchased a drivers door jamb light switch from Tom M. Both parts solved problems for me and I'm now 2 steps closer to never having a 100% perfectly completed car. Side note - Replacing the shifter dust cover provided a good instructional on how the center console is assembled/disassembled. Don't unscrew the (4) screws (yellow arrow in pic) holding the grey shifter piece from the the wood piece until you have the entire shifter "wood" piece removed from the console...unless you prefer to fish the screw tabs from the "abyss".

No dice on Clark's still carrying R270 Shifter Dust Shield or R272 Shifter Lens. I even called to confirm. No dice boys and girls. Dang.

Trying to cross of some more items. I have the following hole in my shifter section. Would the following R270 part from Clark's take care of this? Thanks,

Dang it Jon - thanks for the explanation - makes a lot of sense. Was this an issue from Day 1 for cars that left the showroom with a Carter AFB? I wonder why my float is sticking at the bottom after the fuel evaporates out. As Telriv suggested, I need to take the top off and inspect. With all this free time I constantly have, I don't know why I haven't done it yet. Dang.

It should also be noted, the last time I filled the tank I had to use 93octane, but it contained 10% ethanol. Yesterday I filled up the tank with 91 No Ethanol. It'll be interesting to see if the no-ethanol fuel starts holding longer before evaporation.

No way is the carb getting so hot all the fuel is boiling out. When I Went to lunch and left work today, it started quicker than I could get off the key. Carb temps after a spirited drive home in upper 80 degree temps - 150-160 everywhere. Intake wasn’t higher than 215 anywhere. This leads me to believe it’s either evaporating really quickly or leaking out of the carb and into the manifold. Positive note: all exhaust ports are hot while running and within 10% temps of each other - they’re all firing Non-positive note: I have a slight tick on the drivers side valve train. Secondary positive note: way fun driving it to work and back - 45 minutes round trip. But was consistently looking for a crash landing spot at each red light in case the brakes failed, lol.

I drove the Riviera to work this morning and had recently ran the car on Sunday. Upon crank, the carb acted like it had a little gas (sputtered a couple times), but cranked for a good 8-10 seconds while the fuel made its way to the carb. It did not flood this morning. Based on the above, I'm thinking the fuel is either evaporating (very quickly - 2 days) or boiling upon shutdown. When I get home from work, I'll take some infrared temp readings around the carb base prior to shutdown and 2-3 minutes after shutdown.

I recently removed the exhaust heat riser valve from the passenger side exhaust manifold. The valve and thermostat spring had locked up so I completely removed the valve. Would I still need to worry about this as a source for the carb to be dry?

1965 401 carter afb floods periodically on startup if I haven’t started the car in 5-6 days. If I shut the engine down quickly and tap the carb’s float area, I can get the car started back up and it’ll run normal. I’m thinking the fuel is evaporating or leaking down and the float drops to the lowest setting and gets stuck, letting fuel to continuously pump in. Short of taking the carb off and going through a rebuild - any advice? Thanks, Brandon