I'll start with some history: Rebuilt the carburetor last month, it was leaking pretty bad on the '48 because of float or needle or both. Cleaned soot off the plugs which was very thin. No oil residue. I read the manual for info on carburetor settings, but not sure if I have it exactly right. It does not leak unless I try too many cranks, which I do not do anymore.
I tuned it up last year after I bought it. New copper wires, new auto-lite 3116 plugs, points, cap & rotor, also static timed it. Changed the oil (rotella 15-40 diesel ) & filter twice in a year. First change was pretty bad, previous owner did not change it for what looked like years, very tar like. Oil pressure looks fine. I have not done a compression test as I do not have a gauge yet. Cleaned the air filter cap & pipe & changed that oil too. Replaced the exhaust manifold when I got it because the old one had zero threads. It didn't have a muffler when I got it. No bucket or rain cap either,
So after I rebuilt the carburetor & cleaned the plugs it started up fine. Took a road trip through all gears. Runs fine even up some steep grades, elevation is about 2,000 ft around here. It actually seems to produce more power (torque?) ) going up grades. I did notice soot blowing back down the TSC muffler along the exhaust stack onto the hood. Not much but enough to cause concern. Next day it would not start. Cleaned the plugs, again with thin coating of soot. Started on first crank.
Have not checked the points or plug gap but will try that today. I have not tried Seafoam yet. Thank's
