Finally digging into repairs, need some advice, and a crash course on Solex Carbs Options

[ninefourteener]

Good Afternoon everyone. I REFUSE to have my car towed up to Brad Mayeur just for a "tune up"... I WILL do it myself, and I WILL get it running as good as it used to.

I found this website that I've been "studying" up on Solexes:

http://www.356registry.org/tech/solex.html

Here's my problems:

Car runs rough..... when it gets hot, it barely runs at all.

Much of the gas is 6 months old (its been stored all winter)

Last time I drove it, I (yes, I'm a moron) drove it through an automatic car wash... it was October, and it was too damn cold to wash with a hose).... The engine died from the water. It immediately restarted, but ran like shit.

And it still does.

I can get it to idle smoothy, but once you accelerate, even while in neutral, the bogs out, or just stalls. If you're "driving", the car literally has almost no power. You have to turn the enging to 4500 RPMs, and s l o w l y let out the clutch... just to get it moving. The hotter the engine gets, the worse it gets.

Here's what my plans are:

Drain the tank, refill with good gas

Change the coil

Clean the jets in the carbs.... this is where I need help. I've never removed the jets from a Solex. I know the "retainers" are on the bottom, but the jets are on the opposite side??? Can someone explain this to me?

Any other suggstions?

Thanks everyone!!--Matt

[smontanaro]

Did you put Stabil (gasoline stabilizer) in the tank before storing it for the winter? If there's bad gas in your tank, there's bad gas in all the twisty little passages in your carbs as well. If the gas in some of those passages has turned to varnish, some of those passages may be plugged requiring disassembly to fix.

Skip

[ninefourteener]

Did you put Stabil (gasoline stabilizer) in the tank before storing it for the winter? If there's bad gas in your tank, there's bad gas in all the twisty little passages in your carbs as well. If the gas in some of those passages has turned to varnish, some of those passages may be plugged requiring disassembly to fix.

Skip

Nope... the gas still flows freely, pump is still pumping. I even changed the filter in the parking lot of Auto Zone. That was actually my first guess cause when it gets hot, it "acts" like it's not getting fuel.

But when I first started it, it ran a little rough, but it is perfectly driveable when it was cold. Once it heated up...... bad.

Still think its fuel? Or does that sound like ignition?