Guys,

Well I can't get my engine started for break in. Here are my 3 problems:

1) Fuel is bubbling out through the float vent! I'm thinking stuck float?
2) The coil is getting hot as in too hot to touch.
3) The engine won't crank very fast at all. But I tested the battery and I have over 500 amps.

I have confirmed I have spark. It is sparking but it is not white,,more yellow.
I have the timing set to spark 14deg. BTDC.
Took a plug out. It seems dry to me.

I haven't cranked it much fof ear of hurting things.

I need some insight.

 

1) beg borrow whatever, find a running carb without issues
2)check coil, make sure its OK, verify wiring
3)Engine will not crank as fast because if its built tight the stock starter isnt up to the task.have a battery charger hooked up and set to crank while trying to start, and have fans ready to aid in cooling.

 

The carb was rebuilt by LARS. Boy I'm disapointed.

Coil seems ok. set to ohms across the coil I get 1.8 ohms. I think that means it is ok. And the case is not shorted.

 

Your carb might be OK, could be cranky waking up. never want to start a new engine without having a known good ignition and carb. To many variables.what dist u have??

 

Make sure your battery cables, starter battery cable and main ngine ground are all good, a marginal connection will make it crank slowly. Fuel bubbling out of the vent is probably a stuck float or valve, take off the air horn and fix it, that should not bother anything Lars did to it. The coil is getting to hot maybe because the key was on for a long time? If its a points system there is supposed to be a resistor on there to limit coil primary current. The weak spark might also be due to the slow turnover (battery cables)

 

You have a lot of money tied up in that engine,i would find a known good ignition and carb, preferably pulled from a recent running engine.that way YOU know that any trouble starting the engine is else where. also you want it to be dependable that first 20 min of ca
m breakin. Stoppin and starting engine does cam no good....Vic
And I also agree with the battery cable and ground check too.

 

Does it fire at all? If it spits gas and pops and cracks suspect the distributer to be 180* out...

 

Does not fire at all. Ignition is working. Plugs are dry. I don't think it is getting gas.

 

Lars rebuilt the carb. But it has sat over a year.

 

Distributor was rebuilt by LARS also. I definitely have spark. I think the ignition is good.

 

I'll work on the cables. Who knows maybe I don't have a good ground.

 

still the fact is carb is new ignition is new, there could be an issue.put known running parts on the car. it lessens the the ? of what is causing the no start issue.Trust me ive done this. new carb new dist new everything. i wouldnt chance my engine for faulty rebuilds on ign. or carb. if you seen fuel running from the vent on carb, and the timing was right it should be popping or something..here again my 2 cents....

 

I tend to agree. If the fuel is running it should be doing something.

 

Wellja gitit runnin?????

 

Ok, I think everything is solved.
Took the horn off the carb and yes indeed the float sticks! About 1 in 8-10 times it was stuck. I am just about positive I have this fixed. I checked it by filling the bowl with fuel and pushed it up and down over 200 times and it doesn't stick anymore.

No matter how careful I was, and I was very careful, I did have the timing 180 degrees off. But in investigating this I am now 10 times more comfortable with how to set it. Learned a lot. Hopefully it is not going to be an expensive lesson and my cam is ok. I really didn't crank it much at all yesterday. The fuel overflowed through the vent just about right away and that is when I stopped.

The hot coil I attribute to having power to it without discharging. That is part of my hot wiring. I have to remember to shut it off if I have trouble again.

The very slow cranking, (which under the circumstances may have been a blessing in disguise), was either a bad ground, or due to the timing being 180 degrees off. I checked my grounds and saw some areas of improvement which I remedied. Also I will take a posters advice and have the 50 AMP charge burst going when I crank. I don't think the starter is weak.

So I didn't try it yet. It is late, i'm tired, and I want to be fresh. I don't want to screw up again. Hopefully tomorrow. Keep posted. I appreciate all the advice.

 

Sorry I missed this post, Alan - but glad you got it nailed. Everyone's done this at least once

 

Thanks. As you more than anyone know I have tried so hard to do things right. No shortcuts and fretted over every detail. So needless to say this was very disappointing. Everything leading up to this and then realizing I made a basic mistake.
But I wouldn't have made the mistake if I chose not to learn how to rebuild my engine. I learned so much and I am so far ahead at this point it really doesn't matter. Education is expensive. We'll see what happens.

 

Don't worry the cam will be fine. Turning the car over a few times is just going to prime the oiling system a little better. Let us know how she runs.

 

Ok, I couldn't believe it....when I hit the key it fired right up! I guess I had to see it to believe it! Nothing like having the timing right! .

Ran it up to 2000 rpm and sat there for 10 minutes. But it started getting hot, 220 degrees!, which is too hot, so I shut it down. Came back in a couple hours and did the last 10 minutes. Another hour, another 5. I never let it get over 210 degrees. At least 20 minutes total so I guess it is broke in. I never thought about it but I had to keep adjusting the idle screw down to 2000. I guess as it broke in it loosened up.
The last few minutes I turned the idle screw down to about 750 rpm. It sounds pretty cool.

I took a video and if I can figure out how to post it I will.

So I guess I need to do the final timing adjustments now. Any advice would be appreciated. I guess I should change the oil now?
Boy what a great feeling!

 

Congrats! That's a major achievement - NICE WORK!

The timing sticky at the top of this page is the guide to follow.