Hi everybody! My name is Dimitar Tsanev, i`m from Bulgaria and this is my first car that i am trying to groove. Its a 1.6 ohc 8valve, 2barrel engine.It has 237000km and its in very bad visual condition as you will see, but the engine is running verry nice and fuel consumption was never bellow 30mpg.So i tryed to put the groove on it.First i had to repair the cover of the carb and the accel. pump;they where both warped and the contact surfaces had to be recovered.Before two days i put the groove but with the smallest bit, because was scared not to go into the second chamber.As you will see the wall is only 2mm thick.So after mounting the carb on place and got the engine running till the fan started i noticed: a light increase in idle rpms and smoother running.When i tested it on the road i realised that i don`t have to step on the gas pedal, the car ran better than before with only touching the pedal; low end torque and throttle response increased but the mpg stayed same.Also i noticed that the tailpipe went black.I made photos of everything that i`ve done(Ron`s advise);here is the link: [/url] . Im uploding for first time in this site and not so shure that everythings fine,i made also a video before the groove.The engine has only one PCV hose comming out from the head cover.The other is very small and ends with an orifice plate(1mm) going under the carb.Its purpose is to drain the liquified oil vapors from the small "cup" in wich the bigger hose is leading.I also tested for vac leaks - there are not. Sorry for the long post but i`m little confused. Greetings to all of you![img=http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/6936/cimg0037q.th.jpg]
. Im uploding for first time in this site and not so shure that everythings fine,i made also a video before the groove.The engine has only one PCV hose comming out from the head cover.The other is very small and ends with an orifice plate(1mm) going under the carb.Its purpose is to drain the liquified oil vapors from the small "cup" in wich the bigger hose is leading.I also tested for vac leaks - there are not.
Sorry for the long post but i`m little confused.
Greetings to all of you!

Greetings Dimitar and welcome to "groove land"

I'm pretty sure that what you need to do is move the PCV hose and the smaller hose to the intake/air cleaner side of the system. I think what is happening , that you are getting the black exhaust is that because of the groove's effects and the PCV still being where it is, the PCV/oil recovery are not only reducing the overall effect of the groove but adding the collected oil from the PCV.

You have to do everything you can to remove any vacuum loss from the intake manifold side of the system. This will increase the efficiency of the vacuum and give the engine a better air mix.

Also, there are a lot of gadgetman video's on youtube including someservice updates.

Good luck,

Karl Fortner
Tacoma, Washington

Welcome Dimitar, This is GadgetmanNebraska Aron Cheek from Kennard Nebraska.

It's exciting to see a carbureted vehicle from Bulgaria.

How did you find out about the Gadgetman groove?

Also another note about your carburetor, you can build up the backside of where your groove is to get a deeper groove.

I don't know if you have jbweld epoxy type of a filler in Bulgaria but if possible this has ben a great help to prevent cutting through the bore and making a hole.

Your tailpipe getting black is a vaccum leak or like Tacoma Karl was pointing out you need to cap the port where the pcv hose hooked to, and vent the pcv.

Also since your car has many miles on it check to see if your brake booster is holding vaccuum. This has been a overlooked item that can cause a vaccuum leak also.

Again I would like to welcome you to our family of Gadgeteers.

Merry Christmas and Happy grooving. Aron

Hi again!
I`ve done one more groove today with the medium bit and the result was... a hole.Its impossible to put any epoxy on this place because the secondary plate will stay a little open.Before that i have also tested the brake booster and the other parts of the vacuum system - the heater system(positioning of the air stream is made by vacuum motors) and the carb hot air plate wich is driven by a vacuum diaphragm.No leaks anywhere.I also blinded the hose for the oil vapors going under the carb.The third vacuum line that comes out from the manifold is for the ignition advance, but its a partitial vacuum, also no leaks. So the question is: Now what? It seems like not every car can be grooved...

Congratulations on your first Groove, Dimitar! And it's in Bulgaria! Time to celebrate!
It appears you used the large bit on this one, Dmitar. If not, then you still did right. Sometimes the best we can do is all that we can do...
Still, this can be easily repaired. Simply fill in the entire groove with metal epoxy of your choice, sand the secondary wall down smooth and use the next smaller bit.
While the small bit used in an automobile-sized engine will show minimal gains, ANY gain is a good one!
Don't lose faith, my friend and remember you have to work awfully hard to screw this up.
So, fill 'er in and roll on.
Sometimes that's all we CAN do.

Hi, Dimitar did the groove on my carburetor and I am amazed as I said before.