Cookwithvette

Rant mode engaged....

Okay, so I get to work today only to find that I've been scheduled at a time that the Country Club isn't even open. (we're closed Tuesday evenings) On my way to work, maybe the last mile or so she started sputtering and threatening to stall at lower rpms. When I parked I popped the hood and looked around. Choke wasn't shut, no gas leaks but I did notice the primary fuel bowl was VERY full. Normally these are about half-full through the site glass. "Hmmm...." I think, "must have slipped a little, I'll have to fix that when I get home." Well, after finding out from Chef that I don't work tonight I went back to the car and she pretty much fired right up.

I backed out of the space and she sputtered again. Opening the throttle brought her back to life. I jammed the shifter in first and started out through the park. (it's inside a big park) After about 200 yards she starts sputtering and coughing like she means it.... dies. This is where my big mistake came in, I thought I could start it again. After several attempts without luck I put my hazards on and popped the hood. Suspecting the carb I popped off the air cleaner to find the front two barrels halfway full of gas and a steady waterfall of gas pouring into them. I actually started to panic a little as I had a hot engine and no way of stopping this gas flow.

About two minutes pass and a park ranger pulls up. Turns out he's a nice old hot-rodder. He called AAA for me and we stood around b.s.-ing about cars for awhile. At one point he asked me if I'd ever heard of Demon Carbs. I pointed to the hunk of aluminum on top of my manifold. His son had used Demons for a while and had been pretty impressed by them. I had been too. Had been.

The consensus was that it must be some junk in the needle/seat mechanism not letting the float shut things. :rolleyes: I hate carbs. I've been talking Fuel injection for a long time this might be just the excuse I need.

As it stands I've wasted a brand new case of Mobil 1 and filter. Changed the oil 2 days ago. Who knows how much raw gas is sitting in those cylinders, looks like I'll be pulling all the plugs making sure I don't hydro-lock things if I try to turn it over.

Sorry about the rant guys, just needed to vent. One of "those" days. :banghead:

vettfixr

On the bright side you'll probably be able to fix it with a screwdriver and a 9/16 wrench. And you can replace the entire unit for around $300 give or take a little. Try that with an injection setup. :D

Cookwithvette

That's true, carbs are a whole lot cheaper than EFI I just have NO luck with them. One year old and the throttle shaft is starting to leak gas. BTW this is my second leaky Demon. I think Summit got a damaged shipment.

Also, I guess if this had to happen, at least it wasn't in the middle of a downtown intersection or something.

Main reasons for wanting EFI are effenciency and cold weather drivability. I don't have an exhaust crossover or warm air intake so when the temps drop below ~35 degrees she'll complain if you don't drive her "just so." That and being a computer geek I'm just at home with electronic stuff. I'm embarassed to say but I've had a hard time wrapping my mind around carbs.

mrvette

Well, yeh, 9/16 and a serewdriver....ok....but how about doubling the fuel economy and increasing the power at the same time???
enabling start/run sequences without an act of GOD/Chokes/air temp, guessing, flooding, pressure problems...\

I love DPFI...course being an old geek helps...but it's seriously not all THAT complicated, assuming you can read a voltmeter and have a concept of what it means....really not....

GENE

vettfixr

I know how you feel and I too wish I had the bucks to go for a full bogie injection setup. I lived with Q-Jets for 16 years until a few weeks ago and was thoroughly fed up with carbs. Then I put the new Edelbrock on and I have to tell you that life is very good right now. I didn't want to go with the Holley/Demon carbs because I've heard too many stories of leaks and fires and I didn't want to have a carb that you have to fiddle with to get it to run right. I took a chance on the Edelbrock and have had nothing but good experience with it. All the gaskets are above the fuel level so leaks aren't a problem. It needed no setup other than setting the idle. I tried to adjust the mixture screws but ended up exactly where they were set right out of the box. The car idles at 100 rpm lower than was possible with the Q-jet and is much smoother. It starts immediately in 25 to 30 degree weather after sitting for a week and I can pull away immediately without any coughing or stalling. I have an aluminum intake that is a 2101 knockoff so I have a crossover but it doesn't work that quickly. The Q-Jet used to take at least 5 minutes before I could drive it and at least another 10 minutes before it felt "normal". I should also say that the Q-Jet was a new GM replacement when I bought it and had less than 20K miles on it. The new carb settles into a nice idle and there is no transition when the choke goes off. I took it on a drive this past weekend for around 75 miles and it performed flawlessly. I would recommend this carb to anyone with a mild small block. It's the 650 cfm Thunder Series with an adjustable secondary valve. I paid $359 for it at Summit and it was some of the best money performance wise I've spent on my car. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


[Modified by vettfixr, 8:41 PM 3/18/2003]

Mystery Machine

I had the same exact experience with my Demon about 3 weeks ago. Adjusted the floats and mixture and she has been fine ever since. I got mine from Summit as well...hmmmmm. :skep:

groovyjay

Fuel Injection is the only way to go! :yesnod:

Brettmc

I've had Holleys for years and years and never had a *major* leak from one. That's why I ignored all the demon people and went with Holley again when the 650 dp on my 468 expired.