I got ambitious this morning and tore into the old brick. I removed the intake manifold, the oil seperator, the Power steering pump and the alternator. It was a straightforward job, makes your back stiff from bending over the fender, but all in all it only took about 5 hours (including running down a couple of rabbit trails).

When I went to start it up, it fired up right away, but the idle was at 1000 RPM. I took it on a test drive, and all seemed okay. When I pulled into the carport, I shut it off, and immediately tried to restart it. It wouldn't start. I finally replaced the coil, and no start. I replaced the distributor and again no start. Finally after much cranking, it did start but was just put-putting. I revved it up and it cleared out. The idle was still at 1000 RPM and nothing I did could change it. I reset the idle speed (by the Bentley manual) and I could increase the idle speed, but not make it slow below the 1000 RPM mark. I was checking everything, All the connections were correct, and finally I reached under the manifold, and grabbed the flame trap adaptor, and gave it a twist, and the idle immediately dropped to 700 RPM. I guess I had caused a vacuum leak due to the flame trap not being dead on. Lesson learned.

I noticed that I also have a coolant trickle at the top fitting on the radiator, not the hose, but the hose bung. I just happened to have purchased a new one a few weeks back, so I know how I'll be spending my Sunday morning.

Bill