Ron Dame

It seems that the amount of glass and the curves would make this difficult without seams and wrinkles, but it sure would be nice to reduce the heat gain through that thing! I'd need to remove the defroster (which has too many breaks to fix anyway) but can a tint shop do a decent job of it?

It looks like everyone has already mentioned what I was thinking, but if the ignition timing is retarded, it will run hotter. Same with a plugged exhaust. I don't think that either would heat so fast that you couldn't complete break-in though. Second, get an infrared temperature reader and see if it is really hot, or if it is a gauge issue. As an aside, my Champ had the wires to the gauge reversed, and within minutes of starting, the gauge would peg, but then soon drop. I never understood why it would act that way, but once the wires were in the correct place, it acted normally. My point being, don't rely on the gauge only. Third, I like the idea that the racing water pump may be designed for serpentine belts, thus runs backwards with conventional belts. Keep us informed!

Close Ron, but no cigar. My post wasn't as clear as I had intended. The carb is off being cleaned and reassembled, but the fuel line had dripped at lest a quart before I saw it. I did jack up the front of the car and that fixed that, so it's not really the problem with starting, it's just that the fuel level was higher than the inlet to the carb. The other question, (now separate from the dripping fuel line), is could the purge valve be causing my flooded starting conditions?

New info: I received my carb kit from Quadrajetpower.com, and began dismantling the carb. The good news is that the carb is clean inside, has already had the throttle shafts bushed and the well plugs epoxied, so it appears to be remanufactured, though not recently based on the outside grime. Remember the engine ran well, idled well, accelerated well, no issues other than being flooded at start, and blocking the choke open did not help. What is troubling, is that even with less than 1/2 a tank of gas, fuel keeps dripping out of the fuel line where it went into the carb. (I've not yet completed the carb, so the line is open, save a piece of towel to keep trash out). Best as I can measure, the carb is above the fuel level, though that can be tricky to figure. I loosened the fuel cap to see if pressure had built up, but no sound of air whooshing, and the fuel keeps dripping. I'm starting to wonder if either the vapor canister is flooded or the purge valve is bad, causing that, and indirectly flooding the engine after sitting overnight. What do you all think?

The carb number on my 1980 350 is 17080204. It's not computer controlled, thank goodness. It should be perfect for your '81

Thanks ronmanfredi and MFG. I hope to get the carb number and order the kit later this week, then I can deal with this. I really appreciate the insight!

Thanks, that makes sense. I also saw where the well plugs could be an issue, but the post discouraged JB Weld, or similar because heat deltas would cause the plugs to leak again. But no alternatives were given. Do you have an idea?

Thea has 68,000 miles, and generally runs well. Cold starting, however, is an issue, as it's always flooded, even after a week of not driving. Why do I know it's flooded? because if you don't hold the throttle at least 1/2 open, or god forbid, pump the gas, it'll be a while before she finally fires and belches black smoke. Even so, it takes a few moments for all cylinders to fire and there is still some black smoke. Once she's cleared her throat, she runs perfect. Plugs are clean, too. First, it's not the choke, as I've left it blocked open and on even chilly mornings, it did the same thing. While a kit is a reasonable start, what areas should I pay special attention to?

Ah HA! a clue!

Mine are NOT Recaro. They have an integrated headrest and no adjustability. I suspect GM or AMC.

Mine is similar, however there was no indication of which wire went to each terminal ( they are unnumbered in both the diagram and on the switch) and I never got it to work again. I ended up using three of the wires on a toggle switch, and it functioned fine. I never did understand what the other wires were for.

Looks great!

And who made those seats?

Sorry, I meant who supplied teh front seats? I can get a rear seat cover from SI or another vendor.

These upholstery guys around here... they don't want to touch my car or want crazy prices... like $3500 for the back seat ONLY! And that quote, he didn't want to do, saying that they were AMC seats and you can get covers on line. I'm not convinced. First, these 1980 seats don't look like any AMC seats that I recall, but I also don't really recognize them as anything familiar. So who supplied the seats to Avanti?