ClassicCar

I bought my '55 Patrician for a long-term project and daily driver. Unfortunately, my business keeps me out of town for extended periods of time and I've had to farm out a good deal of the work on it. I decided to put an Edelbrock Performer carb with an electric choke on it whilst trying to get the Rochester 4CG lined out properly (and because I wanted to DRIVE it). Bought the carb, adapter plate, etc and left it with mechanic. When I got home I picked it up and it would start, cold, fine and run until it got warm. When I got it home in the driveway, it took me about thirty minutes to figure out that the vacuum line going to distributor timing retard was on the wrong carb outlet and that they'd tinkered with the timing and the carb adjustments long enough to get the thing to start and run cold. With timing retarded a bit, vacuum line on the right hole so that vacuum retard worked and the electric choke adjusted just a little, it runs great. (Rochester is rebuilt, correctly, now and ready to go back on when I've got the time).



Problem is that most modern day, "mechanics," have never worked on anything but (computer controlled) fuel injection systems and (maybe a few) throttle bodies. Most do not understand how basic, old-fashioned carburetors work, let alone manual/electric/heat/vacuum operated chokes, or that there were once other methods of retarding and advancing spark than with computer control modules. This guy had connected the wire for my electric choke but the purpose of the little black cap covering the choke adjustment had completely escaped him as had several other things. It wasn't really his fault. He THOUGHT that he was a, "mechanic," and - by modern standards - he probably is.