I bought some neutra in gallons yesterday. I have a 1978 volare with a 225 slant six with a carter 2 barrel. I acquired it 18 months or so ago with only 16,000 original miles. It had been a grandmother's car bought new, she became disabled and it sat.
I bought it, started driving it daily and ran into the usual problems of a car that has sat for years without being driven.
One problem, I was never able to get rid of, that was spark knock. I recurved the distributor and limited its total advance, richened the carb, put different plugs in it, made sure the egr was working, etc. Even reworked the routing of the egr vaccum hoses so it worked at a lower mph than stock. Even raised the shift rpm. Still spark knock even on premium gas.
The neutra had a suggestion on the jug for combustion chamber cleaning of pouring 16oz down the carb with the engine running at fast idle when hot. I did this never putting too much so i wouldnt hydraulic lock the engine. Smoked badly while doing this and afterwards for a while.
Also put in cleaning amounts in oil and gas. Took off on a test drive and the spark knock was gone. Throttle responsiveness was better. The car even started better. Usually on cold start it will start up and die immediately and have to be cranked two or three more times before you can drive off. This is with a jacobs igniton, spiral core wires, and plugs gapped at .055 and an
e-core coil. This same combination of ignition setup will start my 1970 dart in 10 degree weather and keep it cranked with no restarts necessary.
This morning it started immediately, ran and it did not die. Feels like a whole other car. I filled it yesterday and will see what the gas mileage will be. I usually get 18-19 on the highway and 16 in town.
Not trying to sell or argue in any way that this is scientific, but it seems to have made quite a difference. If it had only gotten rid of the spark knock I would have been happy. I think it may be loosening rings that were fouled after sitting for 20+ years even though I have had the car on mobil 1 since I bought it.
Dan
I bought it, started driving it daily and ran into the usual problems of a car that has sat for years without being driven.
One problem, I was never able to get rid of, that was spark knock. I recurved the distributor and limited its total advance, richened the carb, put different plugs in it, made sure the egr was working, etc. Even reworked the routing of the egr vaccum hoses so it worked at a lower mph than stock. Even raised the shift rpm. Still spark knock even on premium gas.
The neutra had a suggestion on the jug for combustion chamber cleaning of pouring 16oz down the carb with the engine running at fast idle when hot. I did this never putting too much so i wouldnt hydraulic lock the engine. Smoked badly while doing this and afterwards for a while.
Also put in cleaning amounts in oil and gas. Took off on a test drive and the spark knock was gone. Throttle responsiveness was better. The car even started better. Usually on cold start it will start up and die immediately and have to be cranked two or three more times before you can drive off. This is with a jacobs igniton, spiral core wires, and plugs gapped at .055 and an
e-core coil. This same combination of ignition setup will start my 1970 dart in 10 degree weather and keep it cranked with no restarts necessary.
This morning it started immediately, ran and it did not die. Feels like a whole other car. I filled it yesterday and will see what the gas mileage will be. I usually get 18-19 on the highway and 16 in town.
Not trying to sell or argue in any way that this is scientific, but it seems to have made quite a difference. If it had only gotten rid of the spark knock I would have been happy. I think it may be loosening rings that were fouled after sitting for 20+ years even though I have had the car on mobil 1 since I bought it.
Dan
