60+ year old thread.

Huh... I've always been told to run them out of gas to store them. You say keep fuel in them? But replace gas often? Do you run the engine to drain the tank, so run the generator often with a small amount of gas and then refill with a small amount?

And no maintenance??? Avoid working on it? Changing oil? Or do you mean you do need to do maintenance? And what kind?

 

Nooooooo
Remember you question.
“What mistakes are people making?”
Answer
Keeping fuel in the system

 

Great... then I'm doing it right by running it out of gas.

What about maintenance? What needs to be done and when?

 

All depends if you use it or not.
Oil change every 2 years if you don’t use it.
Over 5 hours of use change it in a year.
Keep the tank empty unless you use it.
I run mine every 3 or 4 months with a aux fuel tank and keep the main tank dry.
Helps keep seals lubed and pliable.
This one I just finished has a small seal leak now. May seal itself up if they run it a while.
Spark plugs I check and clean with a spark plug cleaner every year or two and inspect the condition. If it’s getting worn some I replace it.
Again all depends on how much you use it.
A electric start battery needs to be charged and maintained. I charge my batteries once a month
If I don’t have a maintainer on it.

 

That's a good list. Thanks...

 

Afternoon all:

Nobody uses a spark plug cleaner anymore, we need pics.!

I used to use one years ago when the 66 would start missing before 7,000rpm., which was app. 800 mi. on a new set of plugs. Cleaned them and then about 400 mi. later it would do the same and time to install a new set. For anyone that owned one, those BBC's seemed to be hard on plugs if you wanted them to perform properly. As a matter of fact, I just received 24 new NGK plugs for the 66 from Rock Auto, just starting it and letting it idle or only taking it on short trips is really hard on plugs. Rock Auto is way cheaper on spark plugs, and even with shipping for the 24 plugs they were quite a bit cheaper than other places as long as you order enough of them.
I do have a stash of 8 boxes of R43N plugs for it that are no longer available, I think they are made of gold judging by the price that people who have them are asking for them.
BTW, I did move up to a hotter plug with an extended tip, which a lot of people with BB's recommended on the Corvette and Chevelle forums, will see if there is any improvement. Was worried about the extended tip maybe hitting the piston, but others are using them in the L-72 motor without problems, as a matter of fact the listed replacement plug for the R43N is a R43XLS which is an extended tip plug.

 

BBC?

Plugs fouling? Running rich? Oil burn? Timing?

 

BBC=Big Block Chevy
<<<<<<SBC=Small Block Chevy

 

NOBODY????

I’m not nobody…… lol



Calling me out is never a win for you….HEHEHE…

 

We had the same issues way back when.
We would use a hotter plug and throw in a Accel Banana Coil.

 

Please pardon my confusion. In the first quote you say to keep fuel in the system. In the second you say to keep the tank empty. Methinks that is contradictory.

My experience is that shutting it down by turning off the fuel to the carburetor works well for long time storage. I have done that to my small engines for years with no problems. I also have kept fuel in the tank forever.

 

At $27.74 from Amazon, your spark plug cleaner costs more than a set of Denso plugs at $23.77, also from Amazon....HEHEHE...

 

Fuck Me..

I’m answering the last question

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/60-year-old-thread.163557/page-2184#post-28248970

 

LOL…

Yeup… But I don’t need 12 different plugs in my box and I’m not wasting gas going to get a plug that’s fouled out when 10 seconds fixes the problem..

 

My experience with the POS type generator is different. Mine was a POS out of the box. Didn’t live long enough for me to worry about long term fuel issues. I replaced it with a Honda which is going strong after 10+ years. If someone asks me about them I try to scare them off. Cheap Chinese garbage.

I have the good fortune of being able to buy ethanol free fuel so all I do is close the fuel valve and run it till the carb is dry. I’ll start it every now and then if it hasn’t been run in a while. Oil changes annually assuming it’s been run. That’s it. Knock wood.

 

Thanks for the pic. Mike, not what I expected and never saw one like that.
The one that I used was not that small, on a stand, and you put the spark plug into a rubber seat and wiggled it around as you sandblasted it. It's been a long time since I used it, probably 50+ years, and that garage/gas station no longer exists, it may have also had a way to check the spark, but not sure about that, I also don't remember if it had two ports, one for sandblasting and one with just air to remove any sand residue.

 

But at $10.00 or more a plug for those AC R43N it may pay for itself! Needless to say, I won't buy any of them at that price and will hang onto my stash, there are other available plugs that will work.

Plugs fouling.
From what I'm reading the R43N is too cold of a plug, most are saying they are running hotter plugs of one to two heat ranges for street driving, the R43N is OK if you drive it a lot or want to really crank on it, especially if you really want to crank on it , but for startup idling and short drives they aren't the best choice.
There are two things you will do "A LOT" with these motors to keep them at their peak, change plugs and adjust valves, which I have been doing that for around 58 years on the car!

 

It's my experience that if you are fouling plugs at 800 miles, you are also leaving a ton of deposits behind on your pistons and valves. The engines aren't designed to change plugs so often. They are designed to use the same plugs for about 18K miles (I'm making an assumption on using points style ignition components). Have you tried determining why the plugs foul so quickly? Short drives when the engine never warms completely may be a factor, but 800 miles is extreme.

 

I don't think I'm near 800 miles anymore, that's what they got from the car being new in 1966.
The plugs looked fine at 800 miles, and they were tan, you could drive the car with no problem, it was when I wanted to redline at 7,000 rpms that the misfire would be noticeable, usually in 3rd gear and also then 4th.
You needed to own a Big Block Chevy with solid lifters and 11.25 compression ratio to relate to what I'm talking about, quite a few of them didn't run nowhere near as well as they should because of plugs, dwell, timing, and valve adjustment not being up to par, they are temperamental!
I went up one heat range now, will see what happens, next will be 2 heat ranges which some recommend, got to watch that I don't run into pinging/detonation by going to too hot a plug. At least by reading what others are experiencing with these motors, I have a pretty good idea as for what to do in regard to which plugs to run.

 

It's for my alarm system and the panel will tell me when it's low... Just hadn't looked. My smoke detectors were replaced about 2 years ago and I'm hoping to not have to do them again for another 8 years. But I will look in to that when I need to replace them.

Yeah, nowadays they are all electric and include all kinds of "crap" I don't want - but I do like the adaptive cruise control.

Sorry you didn't get to hunt. Hope you stay safe during all these storms.

evening boys