Tina Marie

ok you all are just fantastic!

Gary, Jim, Dennis & Jeff!

Wow, i'm getting misty on all your help! never met people that are as great as you all are!

So, what i'm going to do is take Jeff's suggestion, going to get my hands dirty on this one, but i'm really not a dumb blonde, and i think i can do it.

I'm not in a hurray at all, this was my mothers car, and even if i can't get it to run again, i will keep it forever and ever.

But however she is smiling at me on this one, she knows that i can do it.

I had a flat bottom jet boat with a 455 olds in it, i had the engine balanced and blue printed back in california, as that is were i am originally from, Northridge CA to be exact. Left after the 7 earthquake which was the Northridge quake, lost my house, lost everything.

Moved to Dallas, my parents moved to Lake Havasu City, AZ to retire.

Anyway my boat was a real piece of sh&t before i had it rebuilt, but after that i got tired of the points and condenser always going out, so i put in a Mallory electronic ignition, and wow what a difference no more timing no more fuss.

It had a Holley 750 double pumper, and i had trouble finding someone who new how to jet them, so i just got a book read a lot and this was way before the internet, anyway, did it myself, and man it was sweet. Just went up to the lake and it took me about 2 hours with a box full of jets to get the right balance, but you know i did it, no one else.

So i feel like i can tackle this at least if i get up to my elbows and can't i'm sure i can find someone on here who can help me out.

I'm really thinking that if i just took the tops off of the carbs i would see a whole bunch of gunk and find they are just sticking the float isn't working at all in the bowl, i bet. had the same problem with my Holley but took it apart and used mineral sports and cleaned it and it worked just fine after that, and never had another problem.

but i do need to get everything out of the fuel system like Jeff said, flush the system etc.

One question Jeff, instead of removing the coil wire, couldn't i just take all the plugs out instead, for some reason i feel more comfortable doing it that way instead of just pulling the coil wire?

Anyway, your all the best!

Tina Marie

62Jeff

Found a free manual (in JPG form)

62Jeff

The disconnected spark plug wires will still try to find a path to ground and will create sparks, as you are pumping fuel into an open container. Not a good combination.

Tina Marie

Jeff, I'll pay you to come to Dallas!

We can do this together, Dinner is on me I'll even put you up in a hotel!

I'm not JOKING!

Tina Marie

Not just pulling the wires i mean pulling the plugs completely out of the block.

i did this earlier this afternoon, just to see if i could smell gas or not, i removed all of the plugs, they were the ones in their when i got the car, they were really bad, sooty.

anyway after i went and got the new plugs, i put my starter gizmo on and cranked the car a couple of times for a count of like 10 each time, thought that would clear things out a bit as well?

Tina Marie

What do you use to clean the carb with, i always used mineral spirits or laquere thinner?

62Jeff

As long as the wires are connected to the distributor cap, and the coil wire is in place, cranking the engine will send a spark down the plug wires and they will spark to a ground point, even if they are just laying on the frame.

The volume of fuel you are moving through the system under the above condition is minimal compared to the method I described because once the carb bowls fill up and the floats close the needle valves, fuel isn't really moving through the system anymore.

Tina Marie

Jeff awesome find on the jpg, can you send me the link to it, so i can print it out, i don't seem to be able to save it or print it? weird.

62Jeff

I use a Chem Dip in a 1 gallon can that I've had for ever. I dip the carb parts in it, then blow out the passages with Gumout carb spray

http://www.scribd.com/doc/93828610/Carter-YH-Manual

Just don't click on anything that says "Download" because it's a misleading advertisement.

Pilot Dan

J/M/O if you want a dependable fuel system, it all starts at the gas tank. Rather than messing with trying to clean the old tank (which is NOT a long term solution once the internal Niterne plating breaks down), I'd replace it if reliable driving is your goal. My 59 was garage kept for most of it's life, the internal tank did not look that bad, yet a fine rust dust found it's way to the carb twice before I finally just replaced it, Zero problems since. Tanks are NOT very expensive, and a new one will pay dividends. Do that before cleaning the carbs, or my guess is you will be back in the same place again down the road. The problem you describe suggests insufficient fuel ratio to the increased air mixture once the choke opens (which would have me looking at the carbs after I fixed the root cause). Pilot Dan

Tina Marie

Jeff

I will use your method no problem, you are the one in the know here!

Chem Dip ok, then Gumout, understood.

Stupid manual i can save i page at a time, i guess that's better then nothing, i'm a MAC so that could be the issue i'm having with it.

I should go and get the carb re-build kit, i will get all of this stuff going tomorrow morning then.

What fun i'm going to have!

62Jeff

Full disclosure though, I've not messed with 53-55s, I'm only applying my experiences with my 62 and 65 vettes (and other cars) to your situation. Jim, who replied earlier in this thread, actually owns a 54 and he's one of our forum experts on fuel systems. He's a good person to ping for 54-specific notes.

Forum member Vette Daddy restores 53-55s for a living, he can also help.

Masterdave, another forum member, restored a 54 a few years ago and we watched his learning experiences with his carbs - also a good resource.

62Jeff

Take LOTS of pictures with a digital camera for reference later.

I'm sending you a PM...

Tina Marie

looks like it will be about $800 from zip corvettes, and that was me looking really quickly on the internet.

i think i'm going to first try Jeff's method and see what shakes with that, if i get it going that's half of the battle, but if it comes up again i will go with replacing the tank all together.

Thank you, Dan! your the man ( i only say this because my son is named Dan and we always say that to him )

Pilot Dan

Wow $800 is pretty steep for an early tank, they are only around $200 for 56-62's. Just a few years back in the catalogues they listed a 53-55 replacement tank for $199. Unfortunately, looks like that one was discontinued. Good luck cleaning the fuel system, it should give you at least some temporary relief. My carb worked for 2 years before plugging up a second time with a very fine brown rust dust. Take a close look at the fuel bowls and see if that is present at the bottom. It passes through the pick up sock and fuel filter and eventually accumulates and causes problems.

Tina Marie

question: what if i was able to save the tank, i over think this a lot, but here it goes....couldn't i take the tank out and give it over to a radiator shop and have them boil it and clean it out, that way i save the original tank and don't have an issue?

ok before you go crazy on my question, just remember i like to over think things, it's not a bad thing. lol

Gary's '66

The others may have a different opinion but I'd drain and remove the tank and then inspect it to see just how bad it is. You can't make an informed decision until you have the facts. What is puzzling me in the first place is why a museum, of all places, would store a car for 8yrs. and leave the old gas in it. They should have known better.

Pilot Dan

The metal used to make the tank has a coating (Niterne Plating) as manufactured. Over time (and IMO with the ethanol in today's fuels), it breaks down and allows the tank to slowly rust from the inside out. Boiling the tank may remove the stuff that is there, but it will return eventually once the coating is compromised. You will end up doing the job twice. Been there done that.

Tina Marie

well if i could know for sure that all of the aftermarket tanks that i find would fit perfectly without any adjustments at all, then i would get one, it would be nice if it wasn't $800 dollars as that is just crazy. but i've heard that getting stuff aftermarket doesn't always work out, and i'm really not going to want to try and fab something after i paid big bucks for it, just to get it to fit. i'm still looking into it though.

Gene jockey

The UNI-SYN is pretty easy to use. Just stuff it in the opening of the carb, note pressure drop and then adjust linkage to get approximately even pressure drop across all carbs. I have a 4-carb V12 Jaguar and this works well. Another toy or tool is a British device called Colortune. It's a spark plug with a little window at the base of the ceramic that allows you to see the flame color and thus adjust the mixture. Love 'm or hate 'm.