Need Some Advice For My Straight 8 Buick.

[Gr8ballsofir]

I have a 1950 Buick that has a rebuilt Str8 with a 2 barrel Carter. It ran great when I first rebuilt it, but lately I've been getting black smoke out the exhaust, especially when I punch it. I have pretty good vacuum (18-20) and the fuel pressure is about 4lbs. I just rebuilt and adjusted the carb last night but It didn't help. Any Ideas?

[Scotch]

Try a fresh set of plugs and double-check your timing. I'm trusting you have the carb set up right and you know how to rebuild it. If the carb is messed up, you normally see it everywhere BUT wide-open throttle. That's the easiest place for a carb to work.

If problems continue, I'd recommend you visit a shop with a chassis dyno so you can monitor what the engine is doing at speed. You say it worked fine before, so it's probably nothing major. If its black smoke, it's rich. If its blue smoke, it's oil, and if its white smoke, it's water.

Black smoke is easy. It's the other colors that get expensive...

Scotch~!

[Gr8ballsofir]

Thanks Scotch. Plugs are new. I believe timing is good but I will recheck. How affective is the vacuum advance on these? I'm getting advance, but I don't notice any difference when I disconnect the line to the V.A.. I have checked the line vacuum and it appears OK and The V.A. moves when I suck (yuck!) on it.

[Unkl Ian]

You need to check the vacuum and mechanical advance with a timing light.

[Gr8ballsofir]

I did that and I do get advance just not sure how much. I have a dial on my light, so I guess I should use it to see how much!! Thanks that's a good suggestion.

Mark