[fins2nv]

I wrote recently about my '30 coupe sputtering and losing power a couple of times. As noted in my other thread about temperature and humidity, I pulled the fuel sediment bowl apart and found a lot of fine rust powder that came out with the gas. I cleaned it out and ordered a new filter, which I am waiting to get in the mail. Other suggestions were problems with the points so this morning I gapped the points at 019. I haven't set points before (my son always did that for me in the past) and it was a first for me. I got the breaker arm on one of the lobes of the cam and really couldn't see any gap on the points. I backed off the contact screw and used a feeler gauge to set at .019. I put everything back together and took the car for a spin. I thought the A ran good before but I could tell it was now smoother and any sign of backfire when I shifted was pretty much gone. This evening I took the car out for a spin and got down my alley when it quit. It would not start. I could smell gas but the carb reacted like it was getting any. I tapped the sediment bowl and few times after the car sat for about five minutes and it started. I drove back in the garage and emptied the sediment bowl again, thinking it had blocked again. I put the bowl back together and went for a ride and after going about 10 blocks the car quit again. After tapping and letting the car sit again for about five minutes, it started up and I drove home. The exhaust smells awfully rich and I'm beginning to wonder if the carb was flooding rather than being starved.

Before when I drove, the A seemed to run the best with the advance lever close to totally advanced and the GAV between one-quarter and one-half open. That's the way I was still driving it and my eyes are burning from the rich exhaust.

When I set the points gap, did that change things enough that I must now retard the lever from where it was before and lean up the GAV more than before?

It's cruise night on Thursday and now I'm getting nervous about taking the coupe.