Braided Fuel Line Install - Flush the line!

[AusTx68]

A week ago I fired up my 383 crate motor for the first time. It started easily and sounded strong. I've since started a few times just to hear it run. Today I had trouble starting it and it died after 15 seconds. It smelled of fuel and appeared to be flooded. I pulled a plug and found it was drenched in fuel and badly fouled. All the plugs were the same way. For some reason my Edelbrock 750 was dumping too much fuel.

Following instructions on their website, I pulled the top of the carb to check the floats and needle valves. I found a lot black sediment in the bottom of the bowls. It was also on the needles valves which prevented them from seating. That caused the carb to flood.

I'm sure the black sediment got into line when I used a cutting wheel to cut it to length. I didn't think to flush the lines before installing the fittings. The left over debris eventually made its way to the carb.

Lesson learned. Make sure to flush those lines!