I ended up making plugs ... the threaded hole is 7/8x18 inverted flare thread. I was able to reuse 4 flare nuts from my smog tubes and found 4 more at a shop specializing in industrial HVAC. Inserted 5/8 dorman expansion plugs and silver soldered them in place ... now I have a plug ... putting them in today. Thx for the ideas

btw ... Thorley and some other headers all in the $600 to $800 range (special for p30 class A chassis)

Yours are probably prettier than mine.

The Thorleys are worth the money for fit, function and quality.

Good luck with your continuing project. Keep us posted!

This is a great thread, Steve. Thanks for sharing.

Followup to this thread:

After a year and about 10k miles with good results, the module in the distributor base failed. Started to miss, got worse and quit. Cooled down, ran lumpy. Limped to an exit and swapped in the old distributor, (8 plug wires plus bat and tach wires, easy!) eyeballed the timing and away we went.

Later I replaced the module with a genuine AC Delco part and works fine again. My advice: carry a spare distributor or at least a spare module of good quality.

I have a 1988 gmc dump truck with a 427 engine that I put a throttle body fuel injection system on from Affordable Fuel Injection in Michigan. They salvage systems from a scrap yard, rebuild as needed, & burn a new chip for your application. It came with the matching distributor, new sensors, new wiring harness,& fuel pump. It made the truck run much better.
Might be something to look at for a Barth.

You are a god! As I drove home from Florida, I pondered a carb rebuild, etc. and lamented the fact that high altitude (even Denver) performance is so poor. Was thinking throttle body... I know the 90's 454 had 'em.

I will definitely check on these folks (Michigan, no less!) Thanks for the pointer, you were reading my mind. Saved me some time looking.

PS Just got back from their site. Awesome! Looks like we'll be seeing a TBI conversion thread soon. (Thanks again.. I think. Ah yes, a fool and his money... but it is for Barth. Besides I'll bet it will pay for itself in fuel saving over time.)

With regard to TBI, we recently drove our loaded 95 454 TBI pickup from Indio (below sea level)to Yarnell (4900 ft) AZ. It is almost all uphill, with a couple of really steep climbs, and we were towing a trailer with a loaded weight of ~12,000 lbs. total weight Trip mileage was 6.7 MPG.

TBI has always done a little better on mileage, and much better on power at higher altitudes, as it has altitude compensation programmed in. The Chevy TBI does way better than the FI on our elderly Toyota.

Well, I can not tell a lie, I ordered a TBI kit from these guys.

Thanks (?) to Terry!

I should have it ready before Black Hills. If it ever warms up here...

let me know how it works i have looked @ there unit Thanks Richard

If it ever warms up and I get home I will start a thread and post the process as soon as I can.

Steve, I talked to the tech guy at Summit Racing and he said that the weak link in all of the HEI distributors they sell is the module in side the distributor base. They sell a kit where you remove the one that is inside the distributor and replace it with one mounted remotely. It seems heat is the culprit. I've had the same problem with aftermarket fuel pump relays for my Volvo. The original Bosch are good. Made in Germany. $70. Or you can buy the el cheapo at $30 made in Hungary. Problem is with the soldering inside the relay. After being stranded, the extra $40 is no big deal. I was in the metals manufacturing business for 45 years and you have to be very careful where you buy steel that is used to make critical parts.
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
Steve, I talked to the tech guy at Summit Racing and he said that the weak link in all of the HEI distributors they sell is the module in side the distributor base.
Jim

Yup.

Our MSD 6A spark box is connected to eliminate the module in the distributor to avoid that situation.

The flex wires in there also can break or chafe from advance plate movement.

Steve, have you considered switching to a MSD distributor? My son-in-law and I talked about this today. He is quite knowledgeable, being a certified air frame mechanic and life long builder of various types of cars and trucks. Apparently, the MSD distributors do not have the problems with the internal module that the HEI distributors do. He has me convinced to make the change.
Jim

MSD is a good choice.

I just went whole hog and ordered a complete TBI fuel injection retrofit system from Affordable Fuel Injector systems. It is GM OEM type with new sensors, injectors and fuel pump, harness, rebuilt throttle body and GM ECM module with custom PROM chip. It includes an ECM spark control distributor.

This should be my final solution! Looking forward to the installation and results.

I am hoping to see better performance at higher altitudes. Last fall in Denver 86Barth had a tough time with any hills. Arizona, etc would almost be a no go. With the fuel injection, it may be ok.

Oh boy... this is my 1000th post on this site! What better topic than fuel injection on an old Barth?