In a message dated 99-02-06 12:29:11 EST, you write:

<< Is this for real? Or pulling our legs on Friday?

 >Vic - I used to pour water down my '74 van's Weber carb whilst revving
 >the hell out of it to break up gunk on the valves/in the combustion
 >chamber.  Once I got this water-cooled, FI, bastardized VW, though, it
 >just wouldn't work!
 >
 >Did find out that, every six months, squirting 1-2 fifths of Everclear
 >($12.70/fifth locally) through the quick-connect nipple my mechanic
 >installed on the throttle valve housing on my '85 whilst revving the
 >hell out it seems to have much better results than water in the old
 >air-cooled!  Great clouds of particulate stuff flies out the exhaust,
 >the van runs much better afterwards and I can stand 15-20 behind the van
 >and feel those neat exhaust gas "pulses" in my face.
 >
 >Once a year, I dump a quart of kerosene into the sump and run it about
 >100 miles up and down the highway at high speed and then change the oil
 >& filter.  The filter averages about 10oz more in weight than during
 >normal oil changes.
 >
 >BOB - WA4RRN
 >'85GL - "BOURGEOIS"
 >cpyrite1999
  >>

No, it's for real alright.
Used to hear of it more in the old days than now but it is still sometimes
done.
Just as recently as last month I performed this exercise (using water not
Everclear) on my '79 Toyota pickup.
Long story short, I had left a rich-running condition go when I should have
long since fixed it.
The end result was a lot of carbon on the inside of the tailpipe and also in
the cyl head.
This resulted in a "running on" condition when I switched the engine off after
a good run and a decrease in fuel milage.
I used a squirt-bottle to administer the H2O (about 1 1/2 Qts) instead of just
pouring it in the carb.
When all the dust (and smoke) had settled there was a spot approx. 6' in
diameter with my tailpipe's exit at it's center that was covered with bits of
carbon.
It was the bigest mess yet that I have made in my driveway!
Truck runs like new now tho.

Sam Bateman
Fork Union, VA
'87 Vanagon GL