Spun Con Rod Bearings

[18Fiatsandcounting]

He doesn't smoke but he does run rich. New fuel pump but it has been setting for two years and ethanol fuel eats the diaphragms up.

What elevation are you in NM? If above 6000 feet, stock carbs will run quite rich and will need smaller main jets. At least one step lower, perhaps two, and maybe even three steps, depending on elevation. A step is 0.05mm. So, if your DFEV stock main jets are 145 (1.45mm, just an example), you likely need to go down to 140, perhaps even 135, and maybe even 130. Below 4000 feet, stock jets are usually fine.

I have heard about ethanol gas eating up fuel hoses over time, and I suppose bad things could happen to fuel pump diaphragms as well.

-Bryan

[70spider]

I am at 6000 ft. I just put in a wideband O2 sensor and my readings were a bit on the lean side, but my plugs were telling me something else. So I got some JB Weld exhaust repair wrap because I think I have a leak between the exhaust manifold and the down tube. I am going to wrap it and start over with tuning the carb. First I will check the fuel pump before proceeding.
Thanks for the help.

[Nut124]

Did you conclude that bearings are OK?

When you took the bottom end a part for rebuild, did you make note of bearing, journal condition? Unless the bearing inserts are grooved or scored, the journals are usually fine as is for reassy. Mine have never needed resizing.

Yes, a leak in the header will make for wild AFR readings.

[70spider]

I think they are. There wasn't any vertically play and the side slop was 0.01" so I found out that is normal. I panicked a bit. I didn't think the connecting rods had any play from side to side. Also I tried to move the crank side to side and "0" movement, glad I put in a new thrust bearing.
I pulled the mechanical fuel pump and it appears it was leaking fuel into the crankcase, probably the reason for the low oil pressure at idle.
So I have put it all back together for the moment, cleaning up some electrical connections, and figuring out the best way to put an electric fuel pump in.

When you took the bottom end a part for rebuild, did you make note of bearing, journal condition? Unless the bearing inserts are grooved or scored, the journals are usually fine as is for reassy. Mine have never needed resizing.

Yep, everything looked great when I tore it apart to do the rebuild. I even took some golf ferrule polish cloth and went over the journals, nice and shinny.
The one thing that still concerns me is that occasionally at start up it would make a "clunk". With the crank, and flywheel being tight my guess would be the new high torque starter. So I am putting the old Fiat one back in, it worked fine.