How to Tune an Engine - Initial Settings, Ignition, & Carburetor Theory of Operation

Today I show you how to set up a carburetor on you car or truck!

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[rogergonsoulin]

There’s more to teaching than simply having the knowledge. YOU have it all young man. Thank you very much, the teaching will be put to good use on my 1952 studebaker commander land cruiser v8 rebuild. Thank you.

[jordon]

As a younger guy just starting to get into the world of fixing an older carbureted vehicle for the first time. This is hands down one of the most valuable videos I’ve stumbled upon thus far. Thank you.

[aceofshades]

I'm pushing 40, been screwing with carbs for the past almost 30 years. I can get them to work, I kind of know what I'm looking for. This is the best explanation I have ever heard, and it makes me realize how much banging my way through tuning a carb was mostly dumb luck. Thank you

[ryderplaysgames]

Bro your amazing with these videos. Keep up the hard work and here’s something that might make you more happy. I’m a younger person at 13, and I really want to learn about cars so this video taught me a lot. Thank you!!

[MontsweagGarage]

You could not have released this at a better time. I just finished a 2 barrel to 4 barrel conversion and as this my first project car and it runs like crap, I am about to start this process. Beautiful to see how this is done, step by step, from start to finish. Thank you!

[bencleveland]

I really feel like you could be a great automotive instructor. You don’t talk over peoples head that aren’t experienced. You take your time to explain and are thorough. You’ve got so much knowledge and patience. Thank you for always putting out GREAT content.

[marktwenty]

VERY WELL DONE! It's been years since I was sitting in my high school auto mechanics class learning about carburators and you brought it all back to me in this video. Actually, I think you did a better job explaining everything than my teacher. I really enjoyed the refresher course! Thank you!!

[mongosragnarok]

I said it before about the camper video, now I find myself saying it again after watching this video. Thank you. This is still the best explanation of carburetor operation and tuning I have ever seen. I only wish I had gotten this level of teaching when I was in auto school years ago. This explains so many things that didn’t know I was doing improperly for a long time. Thank you for helping my dumb ass get a little smarter.

[IndianaTony]

Great guide! I'm a very digital person and always had a harder time understanding carburetion versus computer/EFI control. But I'm planning to build a retro street rod in the next couple years and fuel injection just doesn't feel right for what I have in mind. So this is a great start-to-finish for essential understanding and tuning that I will probably be coming back to later. Thanks!

[nickwarner]

I like the way you approached explaining this and appreciate you taking the time to do so. I personally have two things I do first before getting to the beginning of your list.
1. verify the harmonic damper is in good shape. A bad one can have the ring slip and your timing marks are worthless. If we are trying to deal with an older car with a carb we are talking a vehicle that is at least 35 years old. The ring is held with rubber. Rubber can fail, it cost me 18 years of child support.
2. With the distributor cap off, bar the engine opposite of rotation until the rotor moves. Then bar the other direction to see how far you can go until the rotor moves again. If the thing already runs like ass, it might have nothing to do with the carb and just have a stretched timing chain. You need to know your valve timing is true and correct before doing anything or there isn't going to be a point in fiddling with it, no matter what you do it will run like ass. When it can't be driven, you can't get to work to pay the child support from the time you trusted a piece of rubber.

[wakeupamerica]

I remember the motor home table talk. I got a LOT more from this edition. Thanks so much for the lesson.

[archstanton]

Well done Kevin, really. I am 63 and have been building Holley Carbs since I was 15, and I think this is a great overview view of a Holley, and basic tuning procedures. I have an old SA Designs book on Holleys that has notes and jet numbers, etc on the inner rear cover and in the margins of pages. I was 16 when I wrote most of that stuff. That book is also a great resource if you can find one. It might be helpful to talk at some point about the things to never do with a Holley, like over-tightening the float bowls, or the base plate bolts, etc.
I run into so many carbs idiots have had there hands on with warped metering plate surfaces because some clown couldn't stop and change a gasket and tried to tighten the leaking gasket away. I was happy to hear you address the mixture screws with the caution on over tightening...another place the ham- fisted idiots leave traces of their "work".

[Z_threetimes]

Absolutely the most comprehensive video I've ever seen. Of the other videos watching you speak on timing I was still shaky on the "total timing" but you did an amazing job here and my understanding of these systems has definitely increased by a lot! The time and care you put into these videos definitely shows man thank you

[bruhzzleprojects]

You sir are a blessing, this is the video that finally helped me get my old mini truck running again. Up until you released this all the resources I found only helped me to make it stop running or run poorly. Now she's purring like a kitten!

[nevadawheelin]

My son, dad, and I flew back to WV and drove my grandpa's last truck, a 79 Chevy K10, 2200 miles back home on a trip of a lifetime. It had been parked for 3 years and had only been "farm maintained" before that. We wrenched 4 days straight to get it ready to make the drive. I almost put a fuel injection kit on it because I was that scared of carbs and didn't know if I could get it tuned good enought to drive accross country. We ended up putting a new Accel distributer and Edlbrock carb on it and I was able to comfortrably "tune" it because I had watched and learned from you and your crew. That old truck drove the whole way withough a single glitch. Tuned it with a vacume gauge, set the advance on the distributer, read the plugs half way. What an epic trip with my family! All that to say thanks and keep up the good work!

[gregroot]

I’m new to carbs and have been lost for months while watching numerous other videos on YouTube including ones from professionals at places like Holley. This is hands down the best video on the subject out there. I feel like I actually know what I’m looking at when I try to get my car tuned. Thank you for this!

[Mongoose]

Amazing, very much what I needed to see for working on my cars! You are the only person to actually describe how a carburetor works in a way I could understand without relying on "oh yeah just do XYZ and it'll run better", those people never explain why (probably because they don't know why). Looking forward to more "Tech Tuesdays"!

[patburke]

I've watched a lot of carb tuning videos, but this one truly brings it all together at a level that is appropriate for most folks that make up the street tuning masses. Well done and thank you for your time here!

[bonerlad]

I've been hoping you would make a video dedicated to carbs. Now to watch it several times and learn everything to know about carbs, even though I'll probably never work on one

[anthonypark]

Great work! Now I've got to go and get a car to work on. They say if you can't explain it simply you don't know the subject well enough. Your explanation is perfect.