Well...Here I am in Nova Scotia, midway through my nice vacation in Paradise (i.e. my mom's place). I wasn't sure if the 140 would make it down from Ottawa intact (1800km), but I figured I have 6 weeks to play with...and a tent. Anyway, things are looking good.

I have had lots of fun learning how to tweak various things, and the state of the art is the following.

B20B; SU HIF6s; Automatic (no groan -- great for the city).

A while ago I soaked one of carburetors in carb cleaner without taking it apart (bad advice from the guy at the auto parts store). Anyway, after that I made many half successful attempts to adjust the timing and get the proper richness and get them balanced. I could never get a good smooth idle, and they would have a tendency to run away up into very high rpms all of a sudden if the mixture was too rich. Rhys' diagnoses was that I probably destroyed the O ring for the Choke in the carb I soaked. So Friday I replaced the O ring, seal thingy, and gasket in both. Amazingly smooth idle has resulted.

Today I checked the timing, and adjusted the idle speed stops and mixture. So much easier than before. And I think I was always running it a bit lean, because the mixture seems best a few quarter turns richer than before.

In any case, I have a new mystery. There is a bit of a ping when I accelerate quickly. But the timing is only 8 degrees BTDC. Any ideas?

I took lots of photos of the car in Cape Breton on my trip this past weekend. I will be posting the car at Port Hood Beach, the car in Cheticamp for the 400 anniversary Acadian reunion, etc, when I get to a scanner.

Take care all.

Greg Ottawa