FINALLY, some good news!!

[BarryK]

As for air out of the black tube, as we were working on it it backfired a few times before we got it running right and there was smoke coming from that black tube.

Glad you got it figured out. You have to be careful of backfires though. If you car has a pre-67 Holley carb, a backfire could takeout the powervalve.

yes, I have the original Holley 2818 carb on my car.
what's the powervalve?
I know we actually had 2 or 3 backfires yesterday, and when the first mechanic was working onn it he managed to pull a lot of backfires out of the motor while he was working on it.
How concerned should I be and how can I check to make sure this powervalve is ok

 

[maxphunn]

"yes, I have the original Holley 2818 carb on my car.
what's the powervalve?
I know we actually had 2 or 3 backfires yesterday, and when the first mechanic was working onn it he managed to pull a lot of backfires out of the motor while he was working on it.
How concerned should I be and how can I check to make sure this powervalve is ok"

The power valve is a little dooey inside the carb. Jeff Williams in his Holley Rebuilding book describes it as a vacuum assisted device that adjusts for a lean mixture for cruising and a richer mixture for acceleration.

I'm not sure how to check it, but when mine was shot (due to a backfire) the car ran so rich you could hardly stand behind it when the engine was running. The fumes would bring tears to your eyes. Gas milage was really bad.

1967 and later Holleys had a thingie installed that would divert the pressure
inside the carb during a backfire and save the power valve. Earlier carbs can be modified to have this thingie installed.

I hope the terms I used wern't too technical.

 

[BarryK]

I'm not sure how to check it, but when mine was shot (due to a backfire) the car ran so rich you could hardly stand behind it when the engine was running. The fumes would bring tears to your eyes. Gas milage was really bad.

Well, since I've never had another car similar to this or a motor similar to this one before I can't say how the milage compares but obviously it doesn't get GREAT gas milage - of course, I also always figured that these cars weren't known for the gas milage. Gas ecomomy wasn't too much of an issue back in the mid sixties.
As for fumes, it's always had bit of a fume issue but againnot having other cars like it I kinda figured it was normal for an old car. I use to always back the car into the garage but whenever I would start it or back it in the garage would get filled with fumes and my wife wasn't too happy about that. Now I just drive her in forward so the exhaust stay going out the back toward the open door and it's not much of a problem.My friend has a '65 327/350 and he has a lot of fumes on his also so I took it as normal on mine.
Based on what you describe I'm not sure if I have a problem with the powervalve or not as I don't have a comparison basis to go by.

:confused

 

[maxphunn]

"As for fumes, it's always had bit of a fume issue but againnot having other cars like it I kinda figured it was normal for an old car. I use to always back the car into the garage but whenever I would start it or back it in the garage would get filled with fumes and my wife wasn't too happy about that."

I only backed mine in once...sent off the carbon monoxide detector. I think all old cars without cat converters have this problem when using unleaded gas.

If the power valve is kaput, fumes are REALLY bad. I haven't checked the gas mileage for my '66 350 hp for a long time, but with the 3:36 gears I think it is pretty good. Not good by todays standard though.

 

[BarryK]

I haven't checked the gas mileage for my '66 350 hp for a long time, but with the 3:36 gears I think it is pretty good. Not good by todays standard though.

probably better milage than mine though with my 365hp and 4:11 gears!
and of course requires hi-test and with the price of gas now......
LOL