I was sick all week and while I was sick I read up a whole lot on tuning the Holley. I didn't mess with the settings much other than the floats when I rebuilt it last weekend. I should have...
The idiot before me had the accelerator pump adjustment screw cranked down so it was always engaging. I adjusted that properly, reset the idle air mix, rechecked the float levels, and got it running pretty darn good in the garage.
Took it around the block and noticed a stumble. Went back in, readjusted the secondary float and took it back out. No more stumble so I knew I was on track. Time to take it up to 55 or so and keep it steady to see how she acted.
Got out to the state highway and floored it just to see what she'd do. Keep in mind she's still a 250 so I had some time to get up to 55 even with the 4 bbl and exhaust. Regardless she sprinted straight up there.
...and kept right on going!
I tried to throw it in neutral so I could stop it and went too far. Rear tires locked up, spun me and I luckily missed a telephone pole by about 2 feet. Shut it off, popped the hood, took a moment to wonder just how the hell I missed that pole, and checked the linkage to see if that's what the problem was. Yep. I thought I cleared the lower flange adapter for the 4bbl but it bound up on it. I'll grind it down tomorrow to make sure this never happens again! Plenty of material there I can remove.
So I started it up and noticed I had an exhaust leak up front. Oh well, I'll fix that tomorrow too.
Then I noticed the alignment was a bit off. Still not sure there but the driver's side is sagging about 1" now. Looks like tomorrow is going to be a busy day...
So I get it home and into the garage so I can look at it in the light.
Yep. Both motor mounts are shot. Broke them both.
So tomorrow is going to be spent fixing the linkage problem first and foremost. Then it's onto inspections of the suspension, trans mounts, and whatever else. Either the passenger's side spring shifted out of it's perch or the driver's side is broke. We'll see there.
Anyway I'm just glad to be alive and the car is mostly intact. All of it is fixable.
