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I believe it has an electric choke, 2 wires going in to a black cylindrical thingy on the side of the carb...thats the choke right? How can I tell if it's opening/closing properly?
Air cleaner is going straight in the bin as soon as I mount the hood and figure out which size round chrome type will fit, I was a little worried about it catching fire!
Yes, that's your choke. It should almost close the plate at the top front section of the carb. If wired properly, the red wire should have power when the key is in the 'run' position. However, if you've been trying to start it for a while, the choke may have already gone to the 'off' position if it was getting 12 volts the entire time. You can move the choke plate with your hand to see if it helps.
Yes, that's your choke. It should almost close the plate at the top front section of the carb. If wired properly, the red wire should have power when the key is in the 'run' position. However, if you've been trying to start it for a while, the choke may have already gone to the 'off' position if it was getting 12 volts the entire time. You can move the choke plate with your hand to see if it helps.
This makes total sense, when I get a good battery later tonight i'll check exactly what is going on. Could the choke not working cause the engine to cut out right away?
This makes total sense, when I get a good battery later tonight i'll check exactly what is going on. Could the choke not working cause the engine to cut out right away?
It could - does it stay running (idling) if you don't touch the gas? Try holding the choke almost closed and then blip the throttle to see what happens. Also, have you figured out if your fuel pump is electric or mechanical?
Ok I might have been staring at the problem all along. The gas in the tank looks bad, it's yellow and I can see the bottom of the tank has some varnish on it, that would cause it to sputter out right?
In one of the photos, the vacuum line to the distributor is missing.
Check all your vacuum lines to make sure you don't have a massive vacuum leak and at the least get the vacuum line connected to the distributor correctly.
Good luck.
Does the gas smell 'different'? Every time I've had a car with extremely old gas, it had a unique smell that is hard to describe. How long was the video that the seller sent you showing it running? If was running for more than a few seconds at that time, I'd don't think the gas would go bad in the few weeks it took to reach you (unless he was feeding the engine with a line from a gas can, instead of the tank). I think he might have gotten it warmed up good (maybe by manually operating the choke), and then filmed it after it was warmed up? Or if it has an electric fuel pump, he might have installed a new battery, but removed it before shipping it to you?
Taking a closer look, I don't see the large vacuum hose running over to the power brake booster.
It appears to be connected to the intake at the rear of the carburetor, but it isn't connected to the brake booster.
It's no wonder it won't run.
I know the smell you are referring to, the tank It still smells of gas albeit not as intensely as i'd imagined when opening the fuel cap, the video showed it running for about 45 seconds. Considering I paid the seller for new plugs, a fuel tank clean and a basic engine service which wasn't done I wouldn't be surprised if he was running it off an external fuel source for the video. I'm going to have a look at the choke and report back. With regards to the vacuum leak, whilst unloading it we realised the parking brake does almost nothing, so to stop the car rolling I was holding the brake pedal down and tried cranking it, whilst it was running for a second I felt the brake pedal judder slightly right before it cut out if that means anything?
First, If it doesn't smell like gas in the tank, stop.
The seller may have poured a cleaning chemical into the gas tank and you could be pumping it throughout the fuel system and into the engine.
Take the time to drain the tank and flush the fuel system.
Check all the wiring and make sure the plug wires are going the the right cylinders.
Set your timing at TDC at the #1 cylinder with the initial timing and make sure your distributor is installed correctly..
There are numerous threads on how to do this or better yet contact LARS (forum member) and get his timing papers for this procedure.
Are the points still in the distributor or has it been converted to HEI?
Check the points gap and make sure the points are opening and closing.
Connect all the vacuum lines.
Check the oil and make sure there is no water in the oil.
Good luck.
so its a huge vacuum leak causing it to not run? makes sense to me....time to investigate
Yes, as OldCarBum mentioned, if this vacuum line was unplugged, it would not run very good. Behind the carb there is a fitting screwed into the intake manifold, with an approximately 1.5 cm rubber hose attached. this hose should eventually make it to the power brake booster (right behind the brake master cylinder).
Ok i just looked at the vacuum stuff here what we have
a thick line from the intake manifold behind the carb which goes to a Jegs canister, then a second line runs from the canister to the power brake booster.
another big line from the back of the carb which goes to the top of the valve cover
nothing to the distributor, no hoses disconnected or lying around
one hose coming from the front of the carb which is about 7 inches long and has a nut jammed in the end to block it off....
Is the capped off line meant to go to the distributor?
Yes, this capped hose should probably run to the distributor. I can't tell from the pictures - does the silver canistor on the distributor have a hose nipple on it? It looks like it might be missing, but I can't tell from the picture.
Edit: Never mind - I see the hose nipple now.
Last edited by bradleyb66; 06-13-2019 at 01:40 PM.
I think your next step should be a new battery, as you already know it's bad. However, trace the line with the yellow arrow to see if it goes to a mechanical fuel pump (mounted to the engine) or an electric pump (could be mounted anyplace).
Could you post the video the seller sent you showing the engine running and maybe make one of your own and post it?
Take some photos of the entire engine compartment so we can see what is going on and try to help.
06-13-2019, 11:22 AM
