loquinho

Long story short, I got my carb back from Lars, and my corvette of 10 years and I finally had a formal introduction.

The long story:

Back in 2002 I returned from a 2-year mission trip to Brazil, and my uncle, an NCRS judge out in California, emailed me and asked me if I wanted to buy one of his old corvettes. I jumped on the chance, and bought a 1974 L48 yellow coupe. From my uncle’s house, it was trailered to my dad’s place in Utah, where my dad dropped some money into it as a college graduation present. Rebuilt transmission, partially restored interior, new paint (original color), and other assorted items. I took possession of the car in 2003 or 2004. I loved it, aside from one nagging problem. The car bogged a LOT under throttle. I got a local corvette mechanic to take a look, and he did a little work to the carb, which made it function under part throttle just fine. WOT was still out of the question, and it could be dicey from a dead stop. I learned how to feather the pedal correctly to avoid it, and just lived with it.

That continued in one form or another for the next 8 years. Sometimes it would “heal” itself, and I could drive around with no worries, sometimes it would be bad, and I’d have to go easy on it. During this time I was dealing with a host of other issues I was fixing -brakes, gas tank, radiator, etc., so I always considered that to be a more minor problem.

Then last summer the car died on me, and I spent 9 months off-and-on trying to figure out what was wrong. It sat in the garage while I researched, dabbled, changed out the timing chain, rebuilt the distributor, replaced the battery, etc. After all that, it still wasn’t working right – wouldn’t even start, in fact – so I decided the time had come. I was going to rebuild the carb. I couldn’t figure out what else could be wrong. The decision was whether I would do it myself or have it done for me. I try to be a DIY guy with my car, so I took the carb off the car, and began disassembling it – just to see if I could find anything obviously wrong. What I found was some stripped threads in the needle seat. Other than that, the carb was a mystery to me.

I knew if I didn’t do it myself, I wanted Lars to do the rebuild. He’s got tons of positive feedback, and the price was reasonable. When I found out he also could fix the needle seat, I made up my mind, packed up the disassembled carb, and sent it off to him. Lars stayed in regular email communication with me during the rebuild. He was quick to answer questions, send technical papers, and just keep me in the loop. 16 days after I put my carb in the mail, it was back in my hands, fully rebuilt. It was about 4:30pm on Saturday, and I was doing some garden prep for spring when the mail truck came by.

I was really excited, so I opened it up within an hour of receiving it. It came well packaged (he reuses the box you ship it in) and with a paper describing how it’s set. I immediately reinstalled it on the car. The first thing I noticed was how much cleaner it was. I didn’t know how dirty I’d let it get until I saw it back on the engine. It makes my engine bay look filthy. I hooked up all the connections, and got in the car. Realize, I’d sat in this spot many, many times over the past 9 months, thinking, “This is it. This time I fixed it. This time it will start.” It never did. Still, I allowed myself to get my hopes up once more, and turned the key.

The car cranked over for about 5 seconds, and roared to life. I couldn’t believe it. Even without the timing set properly, it quickly settled into a purring idle. A far better sounding idle than I’d ever heard out of the car in the past 10 years. I had a worrisome moment a minute later when I saw what I thought was smoke start to billow both from the rear tailpipes and the engine, but I realized it was the cast iron exhaust manifold that had absorbed all the Virginia humidity and oil from the past 9 months of storage and work. It was all burning off. A few minutes later, the manifold dried out, and the steam cleared. I read how to properly set timing off Lars’ paper, and 10-15 minutes later, it was good to go.

I probably should have swapped out the old gas, but I was too excited. I backed the car out of the garage, and went for a drive.

And that’s when I formally met my corvette.

It can move. It can roar. It can purr. I can pull up to a stoplight without being worried about the engine dying. I can take off from a stoplight and not be worried about the engine dying. I can just enjoy it as a car, without that constant background tension in my shoulders from wondering if I’m going to make it home, or need a tow. By Sunday night, I had blown through the ˝ tank left in the car, and filled it with fresh gas. It only got better. In short, I have a sports car. After 10 years, I finally got to see a glimpse of what this car was like when new.

Yesterday, I gave it a wash for the first time in forever (it took 3 hours to do the whole car and interior). I would have waxed it as well, but I ran out of sunny skies and time. It’s funny – I’ve always cared about my car, but now that’s it’s really running, I care about it more. I’ve started noticing all the small things that need to be worked on now. The carpet that’s loose, the interior trim that’s cracked, the mirror that's loose, the steering that’s just a little sloppy… these were never big things for me before, but now they seem to matter just a little more.

Knowing what I now know, I’m surprised I let the car go for so long without addressing this problem. Even if I could have done it myself, when it was fixed, I wouldn’t have known if I’d done it right, or just made it better than it was. This way, I know what it SHOULD be like, so if I do carb work in the future, I’ll have a frame of reference. If you’re dealing with carb issues, and debating doing a rebuild, just send it off to Lars. He was professional, quick, and really knows his stuff. Just send him an email and he'll send you all the info you need to know for doing business with him. Lars' email is v8fastcars@msn.com

And, because every thread is useless without pics, here’s the car once I washed it. I have other photos of the carb, etc, but I didn't take them with my phone - they're on a memory card in the camera. I can post them later if you like.

F22

Great write-up and congratulations on your 'new' Corvette! It's a wonderful feeling of well-being, knowing that everything is allright!

Les

Nice story. Something you said really struck a chord with me. The more we do to improve our Vettes, the more we enjoy them, and the stronger the bond becomes between man and "machine". Then we're inspired to continue improving them, even if it's just a good wash and wax. It's like they become a part of us. I know I'll own my 69 until I leave this earth and I'll enjoy having it the whole time. Good luck with yours and don't forget to just savor the experience sometimes.

Stroh

Lars is like Wiley Coyote... Super Genuis! And not like Wiley, in that he inevitably gets the Road Runner!

Good stuff. Enjoy the ride.

mrvette

LARS KNOWS! no question....there are a couple other guys doing similar work also, and he knows them also.....

IF the Qjet on motor home ever needs attention, I know who/where.....

my '72 vette has ~94 FI on it.....

oh, you MPG should be MUCHO better, by about 100 mile per tank....

or better.....

loquinho

Actually, my MPG went WAY down because of how much fun I had laying into the throttle.

I'll do an actual MPG check later this spring. From an initial rough estimate off the "good" tank, I seem to be getting over 15mpg, but that's not backed up by any hard data at this time.

jackwabbit703

Sounds like Lars is the new "Mr. Cliff Ruggles?"

lars

Erik -
Glad to hear the car is running as it should - good job on the install and setup!

Cliff and I have both been doing this for the same amount of time, and we've known each other for about 35 years. Neither one of us are too "new" to this business...

Lars

jackwabbit703

Lars, your message box is full.. Left a note on your page.

loquinho

I think Lars' forum message box has been full since the dawn of time. I'd recommend emailing him directly using the email address in my post. I identified myself using both my forum name (and which forum) and my real name.

baxsom

I havent been on here in a while since I am overseas and my 72 is back in the states. Last I had read Lars was not doing carbs any more. I know he would answer emails and helped me out a lot in the past. When I get back from the latest trip overseas in a year or so I hope it is still a go, I truly need a professional.

loquinho

If you've got a friend back home, I'd have them take it off the car and ship it to him. That way you're sure to catch him while he's working on them, and when you get home, you'll have a rebuilt carb still in the box ready to be put on the car.

rogman16

Yepper, Lars is the master!!! Superb technician on distributors as well... Wish I could drop off my baby with Lars and let him get at it!!!

Rogman

Dustup7T2

All of what Les said.

We have real names?

Lars has a well earned reputation for sharing great ideas and good business.

SHAKERATTLEROLL

Great to hear that your Corvette is up and Running Well. But there is only one problem. I did not see Beer or a Hammer in your picture lol.

Lars does FANTASTIC Work.

AGVI

The hammer must still be stuck in my fender.

Dan H.

Thank you for sharing, great story!!

71scgc

You have to EMAIL the man.

v8fastcars@msn.com