It didn't go well: http://youtu.be/wtJC-1Ls1mc I think it's the evaporating gas trick again. I had this happen last year when it sat all winter. Put gas in the tank and it fired right up after 3 cranks and some pedal pumping. Gauge says almost full, but I don't think it is. Not sure what the problem is, but I need to figure this thing out.
Next time prime the carb before you try to start. Just cranking most of the time will not be enough to prime the pump and lines. Plus get a really good battery on it to really spin it over. Needless to say It should be done outside .
I had this happen last week when trying to start my '71 with 455 after installing a freshly built quadrajet. Ran the battery dead trying. Then, I took an ear wax removing bulb and primed the float bowl through the vent tube on top of the carb. Started right up after I charged the battery back up. Do you have a vent tube on top of your carb? A hypodermic needle or eye dropper is also useful for priming the carb. Good luck.
On my carb'd cars, I just splash some gas into the carb, trying to get some into the bowls, but a bit of splash (and I don't mean flood), doesn't hurt. ALWAYS have the air filter housing installed when doing these 1st starts because one back fire can really ruin your day otherwise. Keep in mind, floats can also stick open after the gas has evaporated, so be wary of it flooding out the top once it starts running. This will be evident by how poorly it will start running. Another reason to keep the air filter housing on.
All very good suggestions, priming the carb would have allowed it to start, but I'm not certain it still would be enough to draw the fuel from the tank. I know during the winter months the float bowl all the way back to the tank is dried out or evaporated, so unless the tank is at a high enough level I have this problem. Guess I can try that and see if it works. I've also thought about installing a low psi aux pump back at the tank. Then I could just turn it on and let it run a minute or two and it should pump the fuel up enough to start. Thoughts?
On my 56 buick; I had a lot of rust deposit in the carb. I rebuilt the carb, replaced the fuel line to the tank, dropped the tank and acid washed it and coated it, installed new gas gauge unit in tank. The gas gauge on the dash started work, the car fired up a would drive for a couple of mile before cutting out, I checked everything again and again. The I took of the gas cap and the car ran fine. I replaced the gas cap with a vented one and its been running problem free.
My 62 usually gets started about ever 4-6 weeks in the winter, and ever since I put the dual quads on it requires a lot of pumping and cranking to fire. I too have thought about an electric fuel pump. I had one along the mechanical pump on a 1970 Javelin, flip on the electric pump, wait 20 seconds, start the car and shut it off. Was very nice.
I have a rebuilt carb on mine and it starts just fine as long as the level in the tank is high enough. No problems once it is running. Thanks!
Nest step, something easy & costs NO $$$$ check for spark at the plug or coil wire. During the winter the points can get tarnish on them & not generate to contact needed to pass electricity.
by the time fuel does get to your carburetor, your battery is too weak to spin the engine fast enough for starting. priming the carb would help a lot. Whether with an electric pump or manually putting fuel into the carb. When cranking mine after sitting for weeks, I hook up booster cables to the battery, before the first crank.
Charging the battery is usually the first thing I do after sitting all winter, but just for fun I wanted to see if it would start without charging. When I get some gas poured in, I will try once more to start before charging or boosting. I'd bet money it will start right up. We shall soon see when I get some gas. I will probably then charge the battery one way or the other as I don't believe the generator charged vehicles charge up a battery like an alternator does. That is another surprising thing about this car is that I put a used battery in it when I got it and the same one is in there now. It has been a good one, but it only had to sit out one winter before it's been in a heated garage since. I will put a new battery in it if I ever get it to driver status.
I will do just that if the gas doesn't make it start, but as I told James, I would bet money it will. I know my old car and I know it has no fuel in it after sitting that long. I just thought I might get lucky and it would pump up as I thought it might of had more fuel in it this year than last time I tried it after the winter.
Both of my old cars get fired up at least twice over the winter. Even with modern gas, it takes a few cranks to get them to fire. Never killed a battery though...even on the '46 Super which used to take about 2 minutes of cranking before it kicked over.
