Hello All,
Well, I went back to check out Dad's 72 today. If you recall, I got some tuning tips here last week.
The first thing I wanted to check out was the accelerator cable vs. the throttle arm relationship. So, I disconnected the two. It turns out the throttle arm turns easily and does not bind. In addition, it will now fully close rather than stop about 1/16" short of the idle speed screw.
So I inspected the accelerator cable. I can find no adjustment for length, and the AIM does not show different ones for manual vs. auto trans (this car is auto). No matter how hard I pull on the cable, it will not extend out as far as it should. I later compared it to my own 71 and 72 cars, and when disconnected from the carb they extend out 1 inch and 3/4 inch respectively PAST the point at which they would attach to the throttle arm on the carb. The too-short cable on Dad's car does not "seem" to have any major kinks that would shorten it, either. Somehow it needs to be able to extend out 3/8" farther at a minimum. When I do pull it, the cable extends far enough that the lever under the dash goes all the way to the firewall (I can hear it hit, and I went under the dash to check, too.) and it does not seem to interfere with anything under the dash. The cable appears to be the original to the car.
Assuming I'm not missing some point of accelerator cable length adjustment (and I don't guarantee I'm not), has anyone ever seen this before? Can I just purchase a new accelerator cable and be home free? Do I take the chance that it will be long enough? I'm sure it will help my tuning if I could then get the throttle to close at idle.
Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Patrick
Well, I went back to check out Dad's 72 today. If you recall, I got some tuning tips here last week.
The first thing I wanted to check out was the accelerator cable vs. the throttle arm relationship. So, I disconnected the two. It turns out the throttle arm turns easily and does not bind. In addition, it will now fully close rather than stop about 1/16" short of the idle speed screw.
So I inspected the accelerator cable. I can find no adjustment for length, and the AIM does not show different ones for manual vs. auto trans (this car is auto). No matter how hard I pull on the cable, it will not extend out as far as it should. I later compared it to my own 71 and 72 cars, and when disconnected from the carb they extend out 1 inch and 3/4 inch respectively PAST the point at which they would attach to the throttle arm on the carb. The too-short cable on Dad's car does not "seem" to have any major kinks that would shorten it, either. Somehow it needs to be able to extend out 3/8" farther at a minimum. When I do pull it, the cable extends far enough that the lever under the dash goes all the way to the firewall (I can hear it hit, and I went under the dash to check, too.) and it does not seem to interfere with anything under the dash. The cable appears to be the original to the car.
Assuming I'm not missing some point of accelerator cable length adjustment (and I don't guarantee I'm not), has anyone ever seen this before? Can I just purchase a new accelerator cable and be home free? Do I take the chance that it will be long enough? I'm sure it will help my tuning if I could then get the throttle to close at idle.
Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Patrick
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