Few probz wit my VB :(

[Supmikey]

Hey guyz ive just purchased a VB..

its got a vb block with a vk head
holly carb
extractors
locked diff

and am havin a couple hickups with it.. ive been searching on a few forums but can't exactly search the right fields and me being not too familiar wit v8's i thought id post on here since u all know everything...

sometimes when i go to start the car up it doesnt kick over at all... or it'll start up and then die after a couple seconds.. and eventually it'll just crank over and run - but sometimes it also stalls *happened just when i was going through the round about... very embarrassing!* lol.. - my mate reckoned it was dirty plugs or they might need replacing but i'll check on the weekend

Also after driving a little bit - i popped up the bonnet and noticed fuel was slowly dripping from the holly carb onto the head? this isn't normal but maybe was thinking the gasket needs replacing?

And also whenever i turn around corners to the left.. the back creeeks really bad.. or even driving on uneven surfaces it makes alot of noise.. its really annoying - i knew their were a few things wrong with the car but i thought id be able to fix them all up and she'll run a beauty.. im loving the v8 sound its sooo good hehe

Hopefully i can learn alot from you guys any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

[leigh 7005]

sounds like the float level in the carby is to low easy as piss to adjust on the holleys and is it leaking from the gasket or the trottle shafts if from the trottle shaft youll need a new carby as for the creecking id check all the bushes on the diff and traling arms and dose it creek if you push down on the back of the car?as for not cranking mine dose this and its the nutral safty switch try and wiggle the gear shifter seei f that works when it dosnt want to crank these are also easy to change its the black bit attatched to the shifter.

[DANNY8]

Just a note about fuel leaks...it's prolly not best to drive around with fuel leaking. I work at a servo, and one night a car pulled up, and he was tinkering around under his bonnet, then next thing I saw was the front end of his car engulfed in flames....was the scariest thing I've encountered while working at the servo (bout 18 months). But yeah turns out he had a fuel leak and was trying to fix it and it somehow ignited.

As for ur stalling issues, put new plugs, leads and a dizzy cap on it. Check the timing and adjust if it's needed (can't remember wat it's suppose to be set at). Check all vacuum hoses for leaks. And make have a fiddle with ya carby. Is it idling to low maybe?

As Leigh suggested, the neutral safety switch could be the issue why it doesn't crank sometimes (It could also be the starter solenoid). The neutral safety switch only lets the car crank over when ur in Park and Neutral. So if it doesn't start, try putting it in neutral, or put the key in the start position (where it would crank), put ya foot on the brake, and move the shifter up and down, coz if the switch is slightly out of alignment it means it might not work unless u move the shifter slightly out of the gear. The switch uses 2 wires to work (altho I think it has 4 connected, can't remember wat the others are for), to disconnect it (so it starts in any gear), the 2 wires just gotta be snipped and joined together.....or connect a flick switch up so it acts as an immobiliser.

[ari666]

what holley is on it? 600Dp?

i had the same prob with my holley and the floats and fuel pressure were the problem. the floats are really easy to adjust, but need to know what carb it is.

floats could be all your problems in one really. if the carb is flooding when its shut down, and fuel pools on the butterflys then you have a rich condition and the only way to start is keep cranking WOT till it fires.

holley 600 trick kits are 200 bucks;

VPW Performance Mailorder

and well worth it. they have replacement whistles which, if stuffed, will be your problem going around roundabouts cos' the fuel is sloshing up the vent tube and into the carb. they also have extended jets which stop sloshing under full launch, when fuel rushes to the back of the carb and pushes out of the jets.

failing that a basic rebuild kit is about 50 bucks. and holleys are the easiest things in the world to rebuild. compare to a quaddy, holleys are like playing with leggo.

the clunking noise around corners and bumpy roads sounds to me like sway bar bushes or control arm bushes. sway bars are easy as to fix. get the neoprene kit which includes new links and you will love going round corners. sway bars tighten them up nicely.

also, checking/changing plugs, points, leads, oil, fuel filter, brake pads, shockers, bushes and ball joints should be considered absolutely necessary when you pick up and old car, if not for your own safety then for other road users too.

hope this helps

[Supmikey]

Hey guys thanks for replying its awesome you can help

I bought new plugs for it (i couldnt wait till the wknd ) and seems to start up fine now i still wouldnt mind changing the leads or distributor cap still though - currently there are Eagle 8mm leads on, is this size okay? what sort of difference would their be if i were to increase the mm size of the leads?

Suspension prob..
Ive tried pushing down on the back of my car but no noise is made when i do this. It only seems to happen when im driving say over speed bumps or up a driveway/out of a driveway. It only happens on the left side but when i drive up a driveway sometimes it creeks from the front side and also the back left side.

Thanks for all your suggestions

What are symptoms of worn shocks? could it be this?
Are bushes easy to replace? id prefer to try and do it myself over taking it to a mechanic if i can.

Cheers guys

[Supmikey]

Oh and also fixed the fuel leak problem, ended up being a few screws loose on the holly.. doh!

[Paiste402]

8mm is plenty of lead for the spark plugs, ive used Eagle leads and i thought they were quite good.

[viccib]

hubby says to check thed sway bar on the rear and check the panhard rod in the rear. maybe that will help. or loosen the bolts and spray the rubbers with wd40 that may help too. good luck.

[Supmikey]

Hey thanks for that, i replaced the sway bar bushes and links and panhard rod but was still doing it, pulled the springs out; and they were cut VN springs. Replaced the springs with new Kings and the noise stopped

Thanks for your replies

The fuel still leaks from the carby tho, and i turned the fuel level down a bit more but still doing it, so i bought a rebuild kit for the holley 4160 model, and going to try and rebuild it myself

[ari666]

rebuilding is easy. but one thing to remember, be VERY careful when you are taking off the fuel bowls and metering blocks because they have locater pins in them that snap off if you try and force them off. spend a fair bit of time tapping the fuel bowl with the back of a screw driver all around it to loosen up the gasket.

the old gaskets are crap and be prepared to spend a lot of time with steel wool to get rid of it. they stick like baby pooh to the metering blocks and your surfaces need to be really clean otherwise your nice new blue gaskets, which are non stick, will stick to the old gaskets and rip next time you take the blocks off.

also have a good can of strong carby cleaner on hand and a blow gun for your compresser (if you have one) spray a good amount in all the little holes you find then blow them out with your air gun. do it in both directions cos' some stuff comes off one way and not the other. also pay close attention to the 4 little brass hole thingies in the top of the carb. i ant remember their exact name, but if they are blocked then it messes with your metering. dont try and stick wire in them or anything else, just keep spraying them with carb cleaner and blowing them both directions till they are completely free of rubbish. they are precise sizes, much like your jets and sticking stuff in risks widening them and then you will never get a good tune out of it.

when it comes to reassembly, to set your floats, turn the fuel bowl upside down and adjust the float nut till the top of the float sits level with the top of the fuel bowl. it should be approx 10mm of the top of the bowl. that way when its on the car and you get to re-doing it, you will know its not gonna spray fuel everywhere. if you get it right on reassembly, then you prolly will not need to do it again. but worth double checking.

anything else? lol. you need to set your pump arm and throttle blade position while the carb is off too. i can tell you how but this post is gettin' too long :P

[viccib]

we just had sort of the same problem with our carby, try changing the idle stop solenoid as they become sticky or stuck. hubby has a vc and this stopped the fuel emptying out of the carby. maybe might help.

[180sc]

when your spraying carb cleaner everywhere put on some goggles that shit burns the hell out of your eyes lol.

[ari666]

when your spraying carb cleaner everywhere put on some goggles that shit burns the hell out of your eyes lol.

omg right!!!! maaann that hurts

[Supmikey]

anything else? lol. you need to set your pump arm and throttle blade position while the carb is off too. i can tell you how but this post is gettin' too long :P

Ooo the holley book didn't mention this part? that'll be cool if you could let me know a bit bout this mate? cheers

i also bought a msd HEI distrubtor to put in aswell which will be going in over the next week or two.

Thanks for the tips bout the cleaning and stuff and goggles :P im a painter by trade n have a couple of compressors to blow em out after i spray them. Pulled it all apart took all the rubbery o rings and stuff off and then left the remains of the gaskets on the blocks sitting in the mrs metal cooking trays then sprayed heaps of carby cleaner and let them soak overnight, the next day they scrubbed up real easy and blew it out with the gun and resprayed and blew them again. came up clean as

[ari666]

wrote a really long thesis on "how to adjust throttle blade position and pump arm", my computer went all spasticated and lost it

i CBF now. sorry. maybe tomorrow.

[Supmikey]

Awww yea hate that when it happens. sweet as no probs no rush dude thanks