And lo, it came to pass that on that day his travels over long and short high and low were a bit
more difficult than he planned. His carb was out of the proverbial adjustment. What to do?
SOLEX 34 PICT CARBURETOR ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURES:
a) Take a walk to the rear of the car, stopping briefly to pick up a small flathead screwdriver.
b) Open the engine lid. (Decklid, rear hatch)
Before we begin to adjust that carb, the timing and valves should be set. There is another FAQ for
that...also, the car should be fully warmed up. Look down into the top hole of the carb to be sure
the flap in there is fully open. It's important.
Before we begin, let's get our terminology down. The CARBURETOR is that grey thing right there in the middle of all that nameless other stuff. It is underneath that big black thing (the aircleaner).
There is a lever on the left side front with a cable connected to it. We will call that the THROTTLE LEVER.
The throttle lever rests on a strange looking little flat piece with cuts in it we call the CHOKE CAM.
Directly beneath the choke cam on the left side of the carburetor you will see two screws. The large one is called the AIR VOLUME SCREW. The small one under that one is the FUEL MIXTURE SCREW.
There is one more thing on the left side of the carb (cool term for carburetor). It has a wire going from it. It is screwed into the side of the carb and is called the ELECTROMAGNETIC CUTOFF VALVE.
O.K., let's begin:
1) Grab the cutoff valve with your hand and be sure it is screwed tightly into the carb. It has a tendency to get loose.
2) There is a small screw on the THROTTLE LEVER. Making sure the CHOKE CAM is at its lowest "step", screw the screw out until it no longer touches the cam. Then screw it in until it just touches the cam. 1/4 turn in from there and LEAVE IT ALONE FROM NOW ON. It's set.
3) Turn the FUEL MIXTURE SCREW in or out to get the highest engine RPM possible. Then turn it 1/4 turn in from there.
4) Turn the VOLUME SCREW in or out to get the proper Idle RPM (800 to 1000).
5) Turn the FUEL MIXTURE SCREW in or out to get the highest RPM again and then back in a 1/4 turn.
6) Set the idle back to specs again with the VOLUME SCREW.
7) Hit the showers!! You did it! Aint life grand?!
In the unfortunate event that your car won't hold idle or has a huge "bog" on acceleration, chances are you have another problem and, when corrected, will require you to readjust the carb. But now you know how. It's simple. Groovy. Amaze your friends at parties...