[T3] plug reading (was engine/carb questions)

[David Y <goob@adelphia.net>]

<x-flowed>Can someone "read" the plug below for me? (too lean, too rich?). This is 
with 170 main jets. I was running 140s before, which was obviously very 
lean, and the engine was running hot. [To rehash briefly it's a new 1776 
dual port w/ Berg full-flow, C.W. 69mm crankshaft, stainless steel valves, 
009 w/ Pertronix, dual Solex H32/34 PDS13, "tuck away" extractor exhaust 
from ISP West)]  The engine rebuilder gave me four sets of main jets to try 
(150, 155, 160, 170) and suggested from the very lean plug and overheating 
that I start with the 170s. I decided to try the 160s first. Engine idled 
perfectly so I didn't adjust anything. Temp was stable at 180-190F around 
town. Then I got on the freeway (65mph/75 degrees outside temp) and within 
5-6 miles the oil temp was up around 230F+ so once again I had to pull off 
to cool it down. This was an improvement though (it heated up much faster 
with the 140s) so i thought I'd try the 170s. The 170s were a further 
improvement (it took 8 miles on the freeway to overheat @ 230+F this time 
;) but this is still unacceptable.

So, based on the photos of my #2 plug below (which I do not have the 
experience to decipher) if it is still lean should I try even bigger main 
jets (180s? 200s) or if too rich, should I back the size down and look 
somewhere else for my overheating problem? Looks rich to me, but I'm not 
exactly sure how to read the tea leaves.... TIA!

http://dcr.csusb.edu/dny/170_main_jets-5.jpg
http://dcr.csusb.edu/dny/170_main_jets-6.jpg

Also, I didn't adjust the idle air or volume air screws after changing the 
main jets, because the idle remained steady and the carbs remained balanced 
at idle (I didn't check the balance at high rpm). Is is necessary to 
readjust the air/fuel mixture after increasing the size of the main jets? 
Thanks again!

Dave Y.
68 sqbk

PS I fiddled with my Eudora settings to try to get rid of the HTML text. 
Apologies!



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