Alright, a few problems have crept up on me this summer, but nothing serious. However, I have had a consistent "issue" with my motor ever since I got it in the Fall of 1996.
The motor is a 1990 2.4L Carburated Bridgeport. The motor is basically stock except 26cc heads (155 psi) and releived exhaust/G-Force Tuner. I am running 92 jets in the carbs and run it on a mix of race fuel and premium unleaded with Klotz KL-333 Synthetic mixed 32:1. The motor was completely rebuilt (new pistons, rods, everything) in 1996 which is when I bought it. However, a few pieces were pirated from my blown up 200 and bolted on to the Bridgeport. The starter, flywheel, alternator and mid section are the main pieces which are from a 1998 stock 200 and to my knowledge have not been rebuilt.
The problem. It is a royal pain in the A** to start when cold. I am not talking about it not kicking over the first time.......I am talking about 50 tries some times before I can get it to light.
Here is my starting process. Hold the throttle wide open to advance the timing, turn the key, let the fuel pump do its work, push the key in to prime it and then kick it over. I try this a time or two and if it doesn't light, I pop the cowl and squirt some starter fluid into the carbs. About half the time this works and it lights, the other half I get the same thing. After about 4-5 tries, there is gas all over the water, and I'm done. Nothing I do at this point will help. I think I am flooding it.
One of the areas I am thinking of looking at is the starter. Again, it is from a 1988 200 black max. When I hold the throttle down, the starter likes to pop the gear up and then right back down. It will not hold the gear on the fly wheel and spin the piss out of it for too long. It goes up and comes down pretty quick, no more than about 2-3 seconds. When I am not holding the throttle down, it will spin, spin, spin, but then the timing is not advanced so it won't light. The starter has never spun real quick, it is kind of a slow spin.....not abnormal I don't think, but I know the champ motors have starters on them that rev the piss out of the fly wheel.
Question: are all carburated high perf motors this tough to start? Could the starter be my problem, or is there something else I should look at. Is there an after market starter that would be better for my application than just rebuilding the stock 200 starter (ie: is there a gear reduction or similar starter out there that will rev the piss out of the flywheel)? Any other comments or opinions.
This is getting real old, real quick. Thanks.