Ok, doing a Flaming River rack and pinion install on the 55 T-bird and I had to replace the oil valley pan (long story) which meant I had to remove the intake. Since the intake was off, I got a Blue Thunder aluminum intake and Quickfuel Holley 650 Vacuum sec. carb. While everything was off I also replaced the head gaskets since I saw some signs of leakage down the sides of the block. I removed the rocker shafts and heads and reinstalled them without dialing anything in. I figured since the distributor was never moved I wouldnt have to adjust anything. I got everything back together and got the car running.
The problem is the engine now runs pig rich but idles high at 1100 rpms. The idle set screw is backed all the way out, and the idle mixture screws are about 1 1/2 turns out. I've played with them from 1-2 turns but it doesnt change much. I'm in Texas so I don't even have the electric choke setup. I havent checked the timing but it'll have to be the next step since everything else I've tried hasn't worked. At first I noticed that the fuel bowl was set too high so I lowered it back down. The quickfuel carb comes with sights which is nice. I also can't detect a vacuum leak nor do I hear one. The car runs great, but the exhaust burns the eyes and it's starting to get a little sluggish since I figure the plugs may be getting fouled. Am I missing something? Can a carb be jetted too high which would cause the idle to be too high? I've also found that the engine runs about 30-40* cooler now because the previous mechanic installed the head gaskets wrong and mismatched the head bolts which come in three different sizes. Could this have an affect. I would think if its running cooler I could up the timing but that would only raise the idle rpm.
I need the engine to idle at around 600-700 and not smell like a lawnmower. Its a 3-speed manual if that makes a difference. I'm thinking it either has a vacuum leak but would it still run so rich? Or the timing is out of whack but could it really affect idle by 500 rpms?
Thanks in advance, Scot Rod