another Sea Foam discussion...

[sasilverbullet]

car: 70 Lincoln Mk III - 460 engine with a very new Edelbrock carb.

I realize that Sea Foam has been talked about ad nauseum here...but I've read just about every post in the last six months on it and I still have some questions:

1. Does this stuff *really* break the carbon build-up off the valves and pistons?

2. Current symptoms on the car are - rough idle and some minor pinging on hard acceleration. I've double-checked the timing and I'm running super.

3. Hopefully my plan below will take care of the rough idle and pinging, what do you'all think?

Lastly, here's my plan for my for you to comment on:
1. Warm up engine
2. Pour SLOWLY about 1/2 the can into the carb, keeping the engine revved up. (not putting this stuff anywhere else!)
3. Shut engine off.
4. Wait 10 mins then restart and run it hard till the smoke clears.
5. Let engine cool off.
6. Put in new spark plugs, wire, dist cap & rotor and points/condenser (needs a tune-up anyway)
7. Change Oil & Filter.

Btw, I've already purchased everything I need, just waiting for Saturday to roll around so I can get this accomplished.

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge and experiences!

 

[gathermewool]

Replace the ignition components first. JMO

 

[sciphi]

The Seafoam is more for the smoke show than anything else. It's the tuneup after that does the trick in my experience.

I'd do the Seafoam with the present components in case anything is fouled out or about to fail, and the hard drive pushes it over the edge.

For a more effective, if riskier, decarbonization trick, try a very slight amount of hot water mist down the carb while keeping the revs up. I did it on my fuel-injected Buick using a vacuum line that reached all cylinders, and the car smoothed out very well.

 

[suspiciousmind]

1970 model?....maybe it's just screaming for some lead?

 

[JimPghPA]

Check out Redline SL-1

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Forget the the "tune up in a can" though sciphi had the best point using water or better(??!) vodka/hydrogenperoxide cocktail. How's the T-chain - see a lot of spark scatter? How is the spark advance working both vacuum and mechanical? Where was the vacuum ported before the carb change are you approximating this with the new carb? Also, I am still waiting for a car to run good on a carter AVS/AFB other than the one the factory put on. I am not a AFB hater - my fave cruiser car was my 65 buick with a 401 nailhead - But I would prefer to see a 750 or 780 holley on there.

 

[morris]

NO its that carb. it is jetted all wrong. the bigest thing is the metering rod has to much difference between the power step and the cruse step. look in the info that came with the carb use a rod that has as little difference in the the steps. NEVER change rods and jets at the same time. change the rods first, see how it runs. then maybe change the jets. this is the short ver of re jetting. there isnt enough room for the long ver. DONT put the jets in tight, just toughting. also if it has one or two screws in the middle of the carb take them out, there are not needed, but if it leaks fuel you could put them back. when you take the lid off you will find two baffels dont forget how they go in.

 

[sasilverbullet]

After the fact report -

Poured 1/2 can down the carb SLOWLY - the amount of smoke didn't seem as much as I thought it would be, but there was white smoke.

Ran it hard, the slight pinging was still there...

Changed the spark plugs & wires - cyl 6 & 7 plugs had a lot of carbon, probably from the sea foam usage.

Checked the timing, the last shop that worked on it had it set to 10 degress BTC, should be 6 BTC.

Test drive - pinging is *almost* completely gone. Only very slight pinging on - foot to the floor - acceleration.

btw, I alreay use the lead additive...

I like the way it runs - I'll live with the very slight pinging. Don't know if the sea foam helped or not.