Technical 223 ford wont start

Hello,

Hi. I'm Ryan. I'm new. I've lurked for awhile, just never signed up. Like your children, I'm only coming to you because I need something. My 223 will not start, it KIND OF does, but dies within a few seconds of sputtering. Every now and then, catches and runs great for 3 seconds.... then bogs out and dies.

Recently bought a 1964 F100 from about 500 miles away. 223, 4 spd, Autolite 1100 w/ manual choke. Ran fine, made it home w/ no hiccups, everything good until a few weeks back. Car died on me, fried points. Swapped em out. Good.

Due to that, I decided to go through and fix some reliability things. Get ahead of it. Plugs (.035) , cap, rotor, (NOT WIRES), points (Set to gap spec, not dwell) , condenser, dual belts, coil, starter solenoid, fuel filter and 30w oil. Adjusted valve lash to .017 cold. I know .019 is spec, however many on here had said on an older engine you can go up to .014. so I happily settled on .017. Changed out some parts on the carb. Float, seat, needle, diaphram, spark arrestor..... did not break down the accel pump.

Set the float correct, set the choke wrong, (new to car carbs) Mix screw was 2 turns out, bolted on carb and it fired up. Tinkered til I found out what felt right (Was set too rich) and set the timing after checking that the 0 on my balancer lined up with the #1 spot on the cap and rotor. Everything good. Set timing to -5. Re-adjusted the carb (again, rookie hour)

Drove it for 4 days, all was fine. Startup was tougher, more cranking and choked Idle was quite a bit off but Once warmed up and I opened the choke it ran better. Decent power compared to before. Then I get in it one day at work and fire it up, it idled poorly, and I drove it off without fully warming it up. Totally Rich. It died, so I Leaned it out and barely got it to Idle.... once it finally caught good, it warmed up and ran great. It was like it stumbled and barely idled, then all of the sudden a magic switch was thrown.

Now it wont even start. Took the carb apart, reset everything correctly (especially the choke), Changed the plugs out and they were COVERED. COVERED in black soot and oil. Rechecked the Dist/Compression/Crank timing, it on. Acts like it wants to start but doesnt. Backfired once. A real weak backfire. Sounded like a black cat. Ive probably tried cranking it 50 times. Its started maybe 8 of those times. The longest its ran is 5-10 seconds, and sounds good when it does. Specifically does not want to run with choke opened. Its like its getting too much gas, but you cant smell it like a flooded engine. As the hood is open I can see mist/vapor exiting the valve cover while I crank. Not always. Fuel pump works, tested disconnected.... squirts fuel pretty well. Has Spark at Coil, At plugs, and the negative on the coil blinks (Points indicator). All of this leads me to the carb... which is surgically clean. And set properly. Compression seems super low... I can turn the engine with the fan and Medium effort. So if my engine is shot, I guess its shot... but how would it run smoothly for 10 seconds at a time if it's so shot that it wont start?

Suggestions?

 

It sounds like it's using up what fuel is in the bowl an not getting any more after it runs.
It does have enough fresh gas to run? I've seen guys fight cars that wouldn't run only to figure out that they were out of gas.
Dirt from the tank plugging up the needle filter of messing up the fuel pump. There are a lot more guys on here who have battled dirty gas tanks than haven't when you start a raise of hands. If you buy an old rig that has been driven every day and driven several miles every day or at least several days a week you don't often have a problem but if you drag or drive one home that has been sitting for a period of time there is no telling what kind of crap is in the tank.
leak in the fuel line somewhere where it is now sucking air rather than gas? Old hoses and lines can start leaking after they start jiggling around a bit when being driven.

Clogged fuel filter?

First thing I would do is to take the fuel line off at the carb, stick a clear plastic bottle over the end and have a helper crank the engine over several times to see if the pump is pumping gas up to the carb. Sufficient gas flow mark the pump and line off the list, weak or no flow start checking the pump and line.

 

It is in fact pumping sufficient fuel, should there be a pressure buildup when you disconnect the fuel line within say..... A minute of starting? Wondering if the new needle is sticking.... When I disconnect the fuel line to make sure it isn't bone dry after the truck wont start, after those first few threads get loosened it SPRAYS out of the carb. Not gallons or anything.... maybe an ounce... enough to make ya go 'hmmmmm'

 

Stuck float needle? Float level wrong? Jets loose & letting WAY too much fuel through? Sounds like running WAY too rich! Also re-check points(did you lube the point block that rubs on the distributor cam?) You'd be surprised how many times electrical problems "hide" behind fuel issues!! Been there/done that!!

 

I did lube the block.... I actually lubed the nut that hits it instead, but same thing. Its lubed up pretty good, but not enough to allow excess to splatter. I will check tomorrow. Only 1 jet and it isn't loose. Float level is set correct according to the Manual. 1 inch from gasket base to crown.

When I went nuts cleaning the carb earlier I tinkered with it dry..... I would raise the float up and it would seat the needle. When I let the float down, it would take the needle awhile to drop. By awhile I mean maybe a second or 2, but in carburetor terms that's a long time. The old needle seat washer was glued in, so I picked out what I could and pressed the new one in on top of it. It ran fine for 5 days like that.... It almost seems that I'm at opposite ends of the spectrum. Yesterday, it seemed to "run" (sputter) SO rich, and the plugs verified that. As did the raw gas coming out of my tailpipe. I wouldnt be surprised, I had the choke set all out of whack and got some poor advice on adjusting the Air mix screw. However, since then I have cleaned everything out and readjusted. Everything is close enough to spec to at least get it to run... Especially considering how far from spec it was upon the first disassembly last weekend. However it almost seems like it isn't getting any gas now. None out the pipe... If it does fire for a few seconds it blows some black smoke out, so that's a sign that there is excess fuel... but if you just sit there and crank and crank, it doesnt smell and everything inside the carb throat stays dry.

Those plugs were BLACK. BLACK. When I pulled them out. Is there a chance that the combustion chambers are coated in that shit and preventing it from starting? I dont think thats a thing.... but is that a thing?

.....Yes I put new plugs in. 0 Black on them, but i can crank for days and they have 0 gas on them as well. These ones arent gapped correctly, I just threw em in but lets be honest... that aint stopping it from starting or even trying to catch.