64 Starfire questions

[Guest]

So many questions, so little time (till driving season)...

1. I'd like to replace my T3 low beams with something that puts out a little more light. What is the modern equivilent direct replacement? (Will they really be brighter?)

2. I have a stubborn coolant leak between the manifold and gooseneck. Is there a liquid gasket I can use instead of the regular cardboard type that will stop this once and for all?

3. On this forum, I've read about the infamous "right turn bog" that seems to be common to the Rochester 4GC (jeez, I thought it was only me!) Has anyone found a cure for this? By the way, does anyone know what size the pri. and sec. jets are supposed to be?

Seeing how this is for a 64 Starfire convertible, I'm assuming Rocketraider would like to chime in.

Bob Ritchie

[rocketraider]

Right now I am once again at war with a 4GC that won't stop leaking at the fuel inlet nut. Threads are weak, I guess. I can tighten the nut, but even with double gaskets and thread dope fuel still dribbles all over the intake. I've given up and ordered a reman from Foosick and am terrified of what it's going to do, because the one on the car runs great- no off idle stumble, no right turn bog, no funky idle- none of the things the 4GC is famous for doing. But with leaks, I can't drive the car. If they tell me it's no good as a core unit, I'll try to find someone who can heli-coil the thing and then put it together with Loctite, and have a spare. I hate the things, but they're the only carb that will work on these cars without a whole lot of fabricating and twiddling with the transmission TV linkage (which if adjusted wrong makes even more trouble).

The off-idle and right turn stumbles are related to float level, and an old-time carb guy told me to set the float level 1/16" to 1/8" higher than specs especially if the repair kit had rubber tipped floats. The jets are actually uncovering 'cause the fuel level is low. I can't remember the primary jet size offhand but the secondaries are .080 on a Starfire carb. You might also check to see that the baffles are still in place on the bottom side of the airhorn, and that the float arms don't touch them at full up travel (needle seated closed). If the arms hit the baffles, the needle won't seat off and it'll cause a flood condition.

Even the wrong throttle body-to-float bowl gasket will make these carbs do stupid stuff. I've never seen it addressed in Olds service literature, but one of the 1961 Buick service pubs explains the reason for the slotted gasket and its relation to idle quality.

Your gooseneck may be slightly warped. Try sanding it on a piece of plate glass or other true flat surface to true it up. 80 grit sandpaper should work. Then use something like Permatex Indian Head gasket shellac on both sides of the gasket. It'll fill any remaining gaps.

You can try a halogen headlight, but I think they're about the same brightness on low beam as a regular incandescent lamp; the halogen filament is only on the hi-beam. Make sure your reflectors aren't dulled and that the lamps are aimed right.

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply Rocketraider. Sorry to hear about the fuel leak. 2 or 3 turns with teflon tape won't snug it up? Man, that's some loose threads!

I'll try the float adjustment. I rebuilt the carb 2 or 3 summers ago and it ran fine, then the stumbles started last year. This will be the fifth summer I've owned the car.

But now for the really hard question. Everyone I ask is either stumpped or suggests the obvious. My timing drifts up and down. I set it at 10*, take it for a drive, and after a bit the idle started to increase. At first I thought it was the idle adjustment, untill the idle adjust screw was backed off all the way. I checked the timing and it was up around 15* or so. I put it back to 10*, reset the idle, go for a drive. The idle starts to drop, check the timing, it's down around 5*, put it back to 10* and round and round we go. When the idle changes, I know the timing changed (and yes, the clamp is tight). This started last summer while it still had points. I converted to a Pertronix unit (which I planned on doing anyway) but the timing still drifts. I checked and cleaned the weights with no change. I doubt it's the vacuum advance seeing how it's disconnected when I check the timing. Any ideas? Could a worn timing chain cause this? Or is a new distributor in order?

Bob

[rocketraider]

Sounds like distributor bushings are worn or the breaker plate is loose on the shaft. I had one do that in my Toronado years ago, same conditions you describe. You can probably send your distributor off for rebuild and keep the original stuff, and once in a while a 394 distributor converted to HEI will show up on ebay.

10 degrees initial is really high for a 394 especially with current pump gasoline quality, but the Pertronix will compensate for that some. I still have points in the Starfire but the Hurst has Pertronix II and I was able to jack up the base timing on that 350 quite a bit and run 87 octane with no detonation. The Toro has a Mallory Unilite which is reliable and efficient, but I still can't increase base timing much. Set to spec it doesn't like 93 octane fuel.