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Ok I have some good news. I asked a friend who knows about carb engines to come and give me a hand. He confirmed that the the transmission fluid and oil and almost new, that the radiator was a bit low on coolant and the fuel in the tank smells fine but is likely new gas added to whatever old gas was inside. He thinks the battery in the car is too small and suggested I siphon the gas tank out and run some fuel additive with a few gallons of new fuel. We jumped the car and sprayed easy start down the air filter, I pressed the gas pedal to the floor once (not pumping it as I now know this will flood the carb) and she sprang in to life immediately, I held WOT and it ran for a good minute however as soon as the gas pedal moved it started to bog down and die. Unfortunately it's late so I couldn't torment my neghbours anymore with the incredible noise. My friend thinks after the gas is changed a few more WOT starts to clear out the carb and some idle screw adjustments will get it going
Last edited by Dazaa Rafae Aman; 06-13-2019 at 05:47 PM.
Lots of states here have ethanol in the fuel. It wicks the water right out of the air on open vented fuel systems. If the car spent a long time at a seaport and on a ship then it very well be bad by now.
Also the bubba looks strong with that whole setup.
Those foam air cleaners don't work well and are a disaster waiting to happen. Backfire+foam+fiberglass hood=bad day
That distributor looks like one of those $50 chinese "ready to run" jobs. I would check the timing and make sure they didn't muck up the firing order or base timing.
Sounds like it basically runs strong, at least at mid rpm. Congratulations! I hope you like the noise! Also sounds like you have low rpm tuning issues. Could be a lot of things. I would run full manifold vacuum to the distrib. The hose at the bottom of the carb with a screw in it. Disconnect and plug ALL other vacuum lines to the engine or carb, you may a a system vac leak.Check that the cap is on good and dry inside. Get a gallon of good gas and rig a line to the fuel pump inlet. Leave the timing alone for now, I think it is basically OK. With a new battery get it running again by playing with the choke. The fact that it starts right away is a very good sign. Just goose the throttle and fiddle with the choke blades to see if you can keep it running long enough to warm up. If you can get it to hold a steady rpm at any speed, even with a spacer holding the throttle open, you can start to check for leaks. Spray some starting fluid or brake clean all around the edge of the manifold , and all around the base of the carb. If it speeds up you have a vacuum leak/ due to dried out 20 year old gaskets. If it passes that and you can warm it up, you can then adjust the idle mixture and the idle speed. If that doesn't work, check back, you may need to rebuild/clean the carb.
It revs good when he hits the throttle in the video. At least when starting from 2500rpm!
Yes the distributor is a total piece of no brand crap, would it be good to buy a decent brand replacement such as Accel or MSD? I have a new battery now and will have another go at it today with new gas and the vacuum lines connected. Since the choke is electric is there any way I can manually move it to see if it it idles better? Yes I hadn't thought about oil starvation, won't do anymore wot starts. If this doesn't help will start looking in to the timing and getting that set up properly. I have a timing light, is there anything else i'll need?
I have a timing light, is there anything else i'll need?
I don't have any experience with that distributor, but send an e-mail to Lars at v8fastcars@msn.com and ask him for his Ignition Timing Papers. It will document the best way to ensure that your timing is set up properly.
Ok when I said it was backfiring through the carb I was totally wrong, I just watched videos of carb backfires and it was nothing like that, it was a fine white mist coming from the air cleaner, no bang or flames. I assume this is because I was pumping the gas too much and flooded the carb? It happened every time the engine cut out, I incorrectly thought it was smoke.
Assuming it probably has a hydraulic flat tappet cam, you'll want to make sure to get some zinc additive for it as soon as possible.
It is possible to check & set the timing before the motor fires.
The car idle mixture screws should be checked to see where they are set at, write it down, and then reset them to 1-1/2 turns out for the first start.
Once it's running you can try either mixture screw setting, or preferably adjust for fastest idle, or highest vacuum reading, by incrementally moving them both in and then out.
Do you have a vacuum gauge?
But I know of no way to check for a vacuum leak except to run it, and you may have one since it stalls so easy.
Power on will warm up the elec choke, then after 30 sec it doesn't work anymore.
You could always just adjust the choke plate with your finger temporarily, unplug it if needed. Check the elec power with a multimeter and see if the choke works.
Lots of little things to check. You'll find one or more "off.
And make sure this coil wire is plugged in better than it looks.
Ok I just tried firing it up with the vacuum line connected to the distributor and it backfired with a big flame through the carb, luckily I kept the aircleaner off. Still no idle, dies immediately. Next I pulled the plugs, one is longer than the others and has a crack in the ceramic, all were covered in gas and looked really bad. New plugs are on the way. I don't have a vacuum guage, will order one as it seems to be a very handy tool to have around. That coil wire was really bad so I changed it for a spare I found which is definitely good.
Last edited by Dazaa Rafae Aman; 06-14-2019 at 01:48 PM.
While the plugs are out turn the engine over and determine that the piston in cylinder #1 is at TDC.
You can do this by plugging the hole with your finger and feel the pressure as the piston comes up on the "compression stroke" and not the exhaust stroke.
Then pull your distributor cap and make sure the rotor is at the #1 position on the cap and the plug wire in that position is going to cylinder #1.
If not your distributor is not installed correctly.
Pull it up, rotate the distributor shaft 180 degrees, and install it correctly.
Could explain the backfire through the carb.
Pre-set the timing and try again.
Check to be certain all the plug wires are going to the correct plugs in the correct firing order.
Does it need to be cranking/running for 30 seconds To engage the choke or can I just leave the ignition on for it to close? Because I left the ignition on for ages and the choke did nothing
While the plugs are out turn the engine over and determine that the piston in cylinder #1 is at TDC.
You can do this by plugging the hole with your finger and feel the pressure as the piston comes up on the "compression stroke" and not the exhaust stroke.
Then pull your distributor cap and make sure the rotor is at the #1 position on the cap and the plug wire in that position is going to cylinder #1.
If not your distributor is not installed correctly.
Pull it up, rotate the distributor shaft 180 degrees, and install it correctly.
Could explain the backfire through the carb.
Pre-set the timing and try again.
Check to be certain all the plug wires are going to the correct plugs in the correct firing order.
Ok I will do this. One thing that really confused me was that the Chinese distributor cap has absolutely no markings on it whatsoever to indicate which is which number so I just put the leads back exactly as they were and confirmed they went on in the correct cylinder firing order. I know my Cadillac had the numbers stamped on top. Is there a simple way to confirm exactly which pin on the distributor is no 1?
edit - i’m stupid, obviously whichever position it is in at TDC will be number 1, it would just be easier if it was marked on top
Last edited by Dazaa Rafae Aman; 06-14-2019 at 02:20 PM.
Sounds like you'll get there. You have to enjoy the troubleshooting to enjoy these old cars. They need a lot of TLC, especially yours. It's got good bones but it really doesn't look like you got new plugs and a tune-up that you paid for. Keep at it! Chin up. Remember that rumble!
Hey at least you got a free spark tester tool thrown in. That's something.
Does it need to be cranking/running for 30 seconds To engage the choke or can I just leave the ignition on for it to close? Because I left the ignition on for ages and the choke did nothing
Not 100% sure with the holley - you might need to depress the gas once to allow the choke plate to close. Then, once you have 12 volts to the choke, it should close, and remain closed for some period of time (I think usually around 3 minutes?). After that time, even with 12 volts still going to the choke, it should start to open up. This all assumes that you are starting while both the engine and the choke are 'cold'.
However, before worrying too much about the choke, you probably want to verify the timing. It WILL run without a functioning choke, it will just need to be warmed up before it will run without stalling easily. I'm guessing that either the distributor is not working very good, or (more likely) the timing is way off - thus the backfire when you connect the vacuum to the distributor (which modifies the timing based on how much vacuum is present).
Where exactly did this car come from? If it came from a high elevation and is now residing at a low elevation, starting it could be all but impossible due to a really lean condition. Just a thought I had being from Colorado.
Step by step, keep at it. You’ll get it running and the first time you hear it run for real will be a thrill!
Wow a mix of autolite and ACdelco plugs.
Use a test light or volt meter to make sure there is voltage at the coil when the key is "ON" and not just during crank.
The fact that they left their spark tester on the car is kinda a red flag there is something going on with the ignition system.
Maybe they hot wired it for the video? 68-74 Corvette used Resistance Wire in place of a ballast resister. Do you think they removed that before installing that chineese ready to run dist? If that is still in place that could be why you seem to have intermittent spark.
For just a cruiser I would go with a good old factory style HEI dist. Reliable, easy to get parts for, and well documented.
You don't really know how old those wires are either do you? I would test them with an ohm meter and make sure they are useable. If one or more is broken inside the car will run very badly. They can deteriorate just from age regardless of how many miles are on them. If the ohms check out they should at least be good enough to get it running. Just had a pickup with a bad set and it would run but misfired a lot and had no low rpm power.
Especially since this car was "built" (modded) 20 years ago.
Based on what I saw when I checked this car out in person, I think the builder must have been bubba's father! And he "repaired" my car too!
Ok im wrenching on her right now, with the valve cover off ive turned the engine over with a ratchet on the flywheel until both valves have opened and closed fully on cylinder 1 BUT the line on the harmonic balancer isnt anywhere near the metal plate with the timing marks on? Ive done this 3 times and it never even comes close after both valves have shut...how do i proceed from here?
06-13-2019, 05:46 PM
