Thanks to EVERYONE who made suggestions on my carburetor woes. I've torn this thing apart, and had it on and off the car, so many times in the last few days that I think I'm now qualified as an expert. I can do in with my eyes closed. This has been one of the most frustrating events in recent memory. To make a long story short, I found two things which are highly unlikely but seem to have contributed to the carb's failure to get the car going after it sat for a while. As many of you said, there wasn't enough juice going past the accelerator pump. However, I knew it was working, and had not-so-long ago put in a new pump plunger. The first "problem" was that the gasket under the venturi had a circular cut-out for the location where the check ball shoots gas into the throat. The problem is, the carb body cavity has an oblong hole, so I reasoned that not enough opening was there for proper gas flow. A few careful cuts with a razor knife and it fit more properly. I don't see how this would be a problem "only after the vehicle sets" but it needed done anyway. Second, although the check balls themselves aren't that old, the shop manual says that sometimes the seats themselves don't make a good seal. It was the check balls that I thought were "sticking". I used a hammer and a small bolt and tapped the balls down hard, making a new seat. Then I put in new balls. Although all the passages looked clean, I used very small wire from a welding tip cleaning tool and reamed out every orifice. Then adjusted everything up again (float, pump "throw", etc.) AND IT WORKS LIKE A CHARM. The old girl has NEVER started better, and I've owned her since 1977! Thanks again for all the advice, guy and gals! Ed Petrus 57 Firedome 57 Fireflite -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Need an answer fast? Search the 17,000+ pages of the Forward Look Mailing List archives at http://www.forwardlook.net/search.htm |
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