Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Ian, from your description of the engine suddenly kicking back and the subsequent difficulty, I would strongly suspect you have contamination blocking fuel flow. Saitos DO NOT like to run lean and that backflip sounds like the cause. That would also cover the symptoms of slow pickup, etc.

I would recommend pulling the fuel line from the carb and blow into the exhaust pressure line to see if you have strong and consistent fuel flow. If so, the next step would be to remove the HS needle, install a length of fuel line to the inlet, open the throttle and blow into the tube. You should have a relatively good air flow either with or without your finger over the end of the HS seat threads. If not then your inlet and/or fuel bar are plugged. Time to pull the carb and go through it to find and clean that out.

Frequently, new fuel systems or ones fed with contaminated fuel can have what we call "Schmigglies" floating around or picked up from agitation. Any can plug up the very small ports used to feed and meter fuel.


I cringe when someone suggests the timing may have jumped a tooth. Unless the engine is in such bad condition, the cam cover is physically loose and lifting away from the case or suffered physical damage to allow for this and still run the likelihood of timing shift is low.

First off, to "Hop a Tooth" would require a physical jump between the cam and crank gears. Only way that could happen is for there to be so much wear or a broken tooth (or more). If either case exists then that change should occur repeatedly every two revs as the cam timing comes around to the same location. I would imagine that would be evident if the crank is rotated by hand,

The other case, and one I had handed to me by a friend, was a 56 that would not start. There the cam was missing a couple of adjacent teeth that luckily had not gone into any other bits to cause destruction. Suspect the sudden stop when the prop hit the ground and the fact it would not start saved it from further damage. The gap had aligned to the crank and the cam would not turn at all. Easily seen as no valve action once the covers were removed.

ps. Just got the bits to put the last 100 together and finished that yesterday. Good compression and smooth action, but one thing a bit weird. Had to adjust the lash and the intake was considerably shorter than the exhaust, to the point almost no threads were exposed above the nut or below the arm. Still had the pocket and no apparent wear to the pushrod. Cannot remember if this was the case with the previous 3 engines and will have to pull one from storage to have a boo.