i finished putting together this car, with a 292 staright six, with 2 carter webers from Langdon. brand new HEI distributor, timed it right. the car ran and started perfectly, i had to move to a new place, so i drove it on the highways, cruised along real nice at about 70 mph, i couldnt have been happier. we with moving and a long vacation and a bunch of other stuff, the car has just sat there for about 6 months. i went to start it the other day, it started but wouldnt stay running unless i help it by pressing the gas pedal. i got it out on the street and started to drive it, i backfires and quits as soon as i take my foot off the gas. i got it back home and figured maybe the fuel filter. the old one had some dirty shit in it, but i could still blow thru it. my fuel filter is before the mechanical pump, i know it should be after it, but i didnt trust the cleanliness of my old gas tank. i will put the fuel filter after the pump when i get a new tank i put in a new filter but the problem doesnt go away, still wont run right. it starts right up but wont stay running. it would start right up, the choke would work and turn off after a little while, and i could drive the car with no issues. the motor ran good for the 2 or 3 months i was tooling around with it trying to get the clutch working right, which i did by the way, it shifts easily. the car is a 1950 fleetline, not that that should make any difference i guess. i took a whiff/smell near the carbs and i did kinda smell that old gas smell. could the carbs possibly be gunked up from todays new gas? they were new carbs, i had them tuned in just right before i parked it 6 months ago and the car ran great. any inline 6 guys here that might point me in the right direction? is there any kinda stuff i could spray in there to clean them out without having to take them off the car, its a pain in the ass because i have hard gas lines to the carbs and the linkage is a clusterfuck of a thing, although it does work well once its all together. or is there something else i should check first? thanks in advance.
Check out this thread of mine. I have a 250 in mine, similar engine, but the information in here from other guys is spot on: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=813678 after you are done checking that out, make sure that your distributor is working properly. I know it is HEI, but is it still good? I have been plagued with distributor issues on this truck (points for 2 distributors) and finally an HEI with bubbas (the HEI fixed my issues). My issues sound like they matched yours to the letter. don't forget gas now adays, unless your put stabilizer in it, starts to separate the ethanol after one month. so if that same gas was in your tank, lines, and carbs I would be willing to bet that they are gummed up. The issue it sounds like is the passage for it to idle is plugged up with crap. If you can't figure it out externally (blocked filter, fuel hose, failing pump, failing distributor (doubt it)) then you will have to tear down the carbs. There won't be a way around it. You can try to spray some carb cleaner down the throat while it is stalling out to see if It is a fuel problem.. if it stays running it is a fuel issue, if not it maybe electrical
Yeah the new gas formulas with 15% ethanol etc, don't last very long sitting in the bowls. It turns into crystal sludge in the narrow ports and screws everything up. Sometimes I can get away with the 'suck fix', which is to 'smother' the carb with a rag while revving the engine. This increases the vacuum and can suck out some of the garbage if it's not too bad. But it's better to pull the carbs and drain them and the tank before storing for a season. Or run a good fuel stabilizer through before letting it sit.
You ran it on gasahol then let it set. I am going to say that things are glunked up. Maybe a bottle of sea foam and a blast down the highway is in order.
Had a similar problem with my 350 ZZ4 engine even with stabilizer and Seafoam in the tank. No more ethanol for me, 91 octane straight gasoline from now on, better mileage too.
I'm building a car and with working offshore, building a house, fixing shit up, and trying to get the car done, it has sat with crap modern fuel in for months, with only a few runs round the local streets. Every time i run it I end up pulling the top off the carb and scraping/blowing some sort of hard or gooey crap out of it. I've had overheating problems, so I fixed it with a new shroud and went for a drive, and the motor suddenly refused to run below about 1200rpm, so I had to coax and cajole it home, over a dozen huge speed bumps, one foot on the brake, one on the throttle, with the tyres screaching and the motor popping and trying to die.... The low speed jets were blocked solid this time. Cleaned them out, rebuilt the carb, and all was well. I have now added some 'fuel stabiliser' to the gas tank, run it through the motor for a few minutes, hopefully this will save another carb strip next time I get home. If it happens again I will drill and tap the sides of each float bowl on this Edelbrock and fit a drain screw!
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