Sometimes the list just goes quiet. Freaks everyone out, but it just gets quiet. ================ Had a great experience with my 1964 the other day. This is the 30k car that came out of a barn. It's like new but the accelerator pump on it never worked. On the Carter Carbs that are on 60-70 cars (at least) the top cap is held down with 10 flat-head screws. Take these and the other connections off and you can clean out a good part of your carb without removing the carb from the engine. This is good for a carb that is maybe used and a little dirty, but not totally clogged up - working in other words. The accelerator pump is a plunger with a leather skirt that has a spring underneath the skirt to keep the leather fluffed out. Sorta like an old-fashioned womens hoop-skirt. The carb looks like this with the top off: http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1964/FSM/html/14-027.htm I took this apart and used two cans of carb cleaner to flush the entire carb. There are small holes at the bottoms of both bowls of the carb that I flushed out, and I removed the accelerator pump and the head that has the nozzles where the pump pushes raw gas into the throat of the carb. Cleaned everything out and then took emery cloth and scuffed up the walls of the accelerator pump bore. Reinstalled everything, used new gaskets that I had in the rebuild kit that I bought, and then put the accelerator pump in. The skirt kept rolling up on me and didn't want to seat properly, until I figured out that the small cardboard cylinder that they give you in the kit is a guide that you slip over the skirt. It rides down the accelerator pump hole around the skirt, and then you push the pump/skirt down in there, just like you use a piston ring compressor to get the rings small enough to fit into the bore when installing pistons into an engine. A buddy of mine told me that the other thing to do is to use your finger to coat the walls of the bore with 3in1 oil or some other light lubricant, put it on the skirt too, and then insert. This was also a big help. The trick is to get gas into the carb promptly (within days) to get that oil flushed out. I re-assembled everything and made certain that all connections were snug and secure and started the car. The good news is that it starts properly. Tapping the gas pedal about 30-50% of its travel does two things: It flows gasoline down the carb throat, priming the engine, and it snaps the choke shut, making the engine ready to start. If things are set up right, you should have the engine start right up on the first second of cranking with the starter. During my entire time with the car, with no accelerator pump, I had to crank and crank to drag enough fuel into the engine to get the mixture right. The car fired immediately and settled into a happy thrum. I let it build oil pressure and then slowly backed out of the garage. Trundled it to the end of the block, and stepped on the gas. The car SHOT forward and really surprised me. Without that accelerator pump, flooring the pedal brought on a leisurely, delayed response. Now the engine feels twitchy and responsive and powerful. It wants to really take off. I'll have to adjust my driving accordingly, as I don't want the car to be all that aggressive - I want it comfortable and smooth. Hooray for big-blocks and enough power to do whatever you want!!! Kenyon Wills ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm