Technical Never too old to learn something!

I have been fighting with a carburetor problem with my old sedan, nothing major but it started hesitating and I just lived with it for a while but a few weeks ago the time was right and I bought a rebuild kit and installed it.

I fired the car up and drove around the block and although there was a improvement it still had a miss or what ever you call it, I have never professed to be a carburetor man but I felt sure I did everything correctly.

This morning I drove the car over over to my pal Earl's garage and took him for a ride and his initial thought was the accelerator pump, that's when I told him I installed a new one with the kit.

It was hotter than a 4 balled tom cat out in the sun and he instructed me to pull in the open bay, it didn't take him more than a five minutes to diagnose and correct the problem.

The one thing I din't replace was a 50 cent piece of vacuum hose, I didn't inspect it when I reinstalled it but there was a split in the hose, we live and learn. HRP

 

Well, you know the carb is fresh now.

 

That sucks!

 

^^not anymore!

 

You can actually buy something for fifty cents these days?

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It was probably an inch long.

 

I like when it’s a cheap and easy fix!

 

yep, have discovered that problem more than once - hose can look perfectly fine to the casual eyeball - but, just a more hands on look will give you that revelation that not everything is made to last forever -

 

No matter what the fix was, it’s always nice to have your stuff running. Something as small as a crack in a vacuum line can be hard to find sometimes.

 

Very common cause of a lot of carb problems. Sometimes the littlest problems go unnoticed.

 

Bought a nova that the owner couldn't get it running right.Poked around it a little and noticed that the metal vacuum line was just floping around.Took off the aircleaner and the hose from the intake to the vacuum line was broke off.Replaced it and it ran great.

 

I always change the hoses when I do my gas filter. I just bought 3' of made in the US gas hose, it came to under $3.

 

Metaphor my friend. HRP

 

I’ll be checking my hoses carefully this morning, I just changed the carb and manifold on my little beast and today is startup day.


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It wouldn't hurt. HRP

 

Danny, I think a lot of carburetor problems can be traced back to vacuum hoses.

 

John, In my case yeah! HRP

 

Places like NAPA have it right out on the floor, real convenient and you cut off what you need. Pay by the foot, never hurts to have extra around.

 

Yes sir, the hoses are something easily overlooked and so simple to change and a bad fuel line can cost you your hot rod or custom.

I remember it happening to Randy (Deuce Roadster) HRP

 

It makes me sick when I see what happened to randys roadster.

 

You and me both brother. HRP

 

While you're checking the hoses, check the vacuum advance as well, give the hose a good suck and make sure the advance plate actually moves. On a couple occasions, I rebuilt the carb on an ill running engine to no avail...only to finally figure out it was the vacuum advance all along.

 

You can find a lot with a windex bottle and a little soap and water, squirt it around while the engine is running and see where the bubbles are.

 

That is awful!
I have had an engine fire, and can empathise with him. In my case, it was a stuck float in a Holley, and it was a good thing I had a fire extinguisher.
These things always happened to me late at night, on a lonely highway, where I knew I was on my own. There was no damage, in my case, and all I had to do was cut and shorten some rubber hoses that fried. I don't know why it happened, that was 26 years ago, and I still have the same carb on the truck and it never happened again.

 

If you are referring to the diaphragm in the actuator can, I have also had that experience.
Bob

 

HRP, don't you find that when something goes wrong, that is an obvious, simple, and easy fix, that there is always a witness that is going to remember, and blurt it out at a time that is most embarrassing for you?
Another one that has happened too many times to me, because in my profession, I went to a lot of strange places, was that when I was lost and finally asked for assistance, I could count on the fact that the place I was searching for was down two buildings and across the street. The worst time for this to happen, is when my wife is in the car.
Bob

 

LONG story with my Grandmother's car, many years ago that I won't bore you all with...but even the dealers F##K that one up.
Luckily...I found it.

Mike

 

Randy's engine fire started at a stop light in bumper to bumper traffic, he had one of those small halon fire extinguisher in the car but it wasn't enough to do the job, a gentleman came to his aide with a big ABC fire extinguisher from a nearby business it made a huge mess but saved the car from being totally destroyed. HRP

 

I've had 2 different vac. advance issues. First was a 289 points distributor in my 39 Ford Pickup. The advance plate for some reason, just froze up (while I was driving it) and wouldn't move anymore. The other time I was coming back from the Syracuse Nats in my old '32 and it started running a little rough (302 Ford). When I got off the highway, it was running like shit. It ended up being a small rust spot and a pinhole on the underside of the vacuum canister...where you couldn't see it. That one took a while to figure out