[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Parkman51

I think everything's working in the fuel system now, at least from the tank to the carburetor, but for some reason, we're still not making that last jump. I'm hoping it's not a carburetor problem (it's probably a carburetor problem) but I don't know what else it could be. If it's not the carburetor, what is it? And if it is, what do I do about it?

Crank the engine for a few seconds. Then loosen the fuel line connection at the carburetor. Gas SHOULD spew out. If it does NOT, gas is not getting from the fuel pump to the carb.

If gas does spew out, tighten the fuel line connection back up. Take the air cleaner off the carb. Crank the engine again for a few seconds. Look down into the carb with a flashlight and quickly pull the throttle linkage to the wide open position. You should see gas spraying from the carb down into the engine. If not, you'll need to fix the carb. (You may need to overhaul it anyway.)

If there is gas spraying when you manually operate the throttle linkage, I'd wonder if there is spark before I overhauled the carb. The easy way to find out if there is spark is to remove the center wire from the distributor and get your dumb little brother to hold it by the end while you crank the engine.

[Parkman51]

Did some carburetor testing today, and yes, there's fuel pressure to the carb. But no, it's not getting to the engine. It appears the nozzles are clogged, or maybe there's some internal linkage that isn't activating and opening them. Note in the photo below that you can see gas in the opened fitting on the left.



We certainly have spark, since whenever I pour gas in the carb itself, it runs fine. So it looks like overhaul time. Is this something I can do myself, or should I take it somewhere? I found some carburetor rebuild kits online (like this https://www.carburetor-parts.com/car...arburetor-kits).

So, today's two questions:
1. Is there something simple I can do to try and open the nozzles before jumping straight to overhaul? (It will be necessary anyway, I assume, since the seals and gaskets are probably shot.)
2. If the carburetor overhaul is something I can do, I expect I'll need a manual or something to tell me how everything goes together and what I should expect to see. Where can I find the manuals, and anything else I should know.

[Jack Gifford]

The first order of business is to see if there's gas in the float bowl by just removing the top of the carb. The problem very well might be just a stuck float needle.

[Parkman51]

Had some more fun greasing today. Due to the setup of the garage, the front suspension is hard to get to on the passenger side, but I successfully unburied all the zerk fittings from their half-inch coating of old grease, and pumped in the new stuff.

Installing the brakes has been delayed for a day or so while I pick up some spare hardware (a few of the attachment bolts were missing).

See yesterday's for the carburetor questions, as well as:
1) Is there a special type of hose I should use to replace the vacuum hose? I figure now is probably a good time to do it, while I've got access to everything. And should I use some sort of sealant for the fittings, or is a hose clamp sufficient?

[Bill Hanlon]

Your FLAPS should have vacuum hose. Most of the vacuum hose connections are just "slip on", requiring no clamps or sealant.

[Parkman51]

I've spent a few hours today reading about the carburetor and watching videos - and hoo boy, that's a fine bit of precision engineering. Probably the best way to proceed would be to work on it alongside someone who knows what they're doing, so tomorrow I'm going to call a local carburetor place I found and ask how much they would charge to do a simple overhaul of the piece and if they'd let me watch and learn. If they say no...then I'll poke around further, or maybe just set aside a weekend and try to figure it out myself.

I did take off the metering rod housing cover, to see if anything jumped out, and the metering rod seems to be stuck in the up position, but I don't know enough to determine whether that's normal when the engine is off or if something's up with that.

Anyway, my brother fabricated me a metal plate to go in the clutch hole, so I'll get that trimmed to proper size tomorrow, stick a bit of rubber behind it, and make all fast. Hopefully that will also result in the master cylinder being mounted tomorrow, but we'll see!

[Jack Gifford]

What carburetor is on the engine?

[Parkman51]

Got the vacuum hose today, and mounted the master cylinder to the floor plate. Touched up the insert for the clutch hole as well, and added a bit of rubber as a gasket.



Tomorrow I'll get the brake fluid and hopefully complete the mounting. This means I'll be able to put my taillights back in, too.

Jack, the carburetor is a WCFB. I called a shop, but they're booked out for the next few weeks, so maybe I will try my hand at it myself. We'll see how confident I am.

[Safari Larry]

When you are checking for gas in the carb, are you pushing the choke open and looking for gas squirting out when you open the throttle? The choke plate will hide the gas squirting out, if it is squirting out.

[Parkman51]

The master cylinder is finally installed. I tried twice before but kept running into difficulties - third time's the charm, though. All bolted in and snug. Tomorrow I'll refresh my knowledge on the brake-bleeding procedure, and get started on that.

Larry, I did have my accomplice hold the choke open while I cranked, he said he didn't see anything. Probably in the next couple of days I'll check once again before deciding what to do.

[Parkman51]

Yesterday, I removed the carburetor, and today I dropped it off at a carb shop. Reasonable price and good turnaround time, so perhaps by early next week we'll have it reinstalled.

[Jack Gifford]

Was the float chamber full of gas?

[Bill Hanlon]

I'm impressed that he found a "carb shop".

[Parkman51]

Finished greasing the front suspension today. That was a surprisingly fun job - straightforward and no complications. Jack, I didn't hear fluid sloshing inside after dismounting the carburetor, whatever that information is worth. But from what I could tell, the carburetor was probably leaking (from any one of a variety of dessicated gaskets, so it needed attention in any case). Bill, I'm located close to Phoenix, so a really convenient variety of small specialty shops are usually within driving distance.

Overall, I hope (and pray) the carburetor is the last thing necessary to get the engine running stably. Once it does so, I am sure I'll have to track down a half dozen leaks from everywhere (I found some red fluid under the car after the last time I put some gas in the carb, so I'm already expecting the transmission to leak. Hopefully just a new pan gasket?). Yet, for better or worse, phase one of the project (the Era of Total Immobility) seems to be coming to an end.

In case I'm too otherwise occupied to make a post tomorrow, I thank you all again for your advice and assistance, and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Today's one question:
One of the fun sidetracks I went down today was tracing all the connections that went to the carburetor. We have the
1) choke
2) vacuum port, which has separate lines to the fuel pump and the vacuum reservoir
3) fuel line, and
4) a small hose that seems to go to the distributor (or close to it. What this is and what does it do?)

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Parkman51

a small hose that seems to go to the distributor (or close to it. What this is and what does it do?)

That hose supplies engine vacuum to the vacuum advance mechanism on the side of the distributor.

[Parkman51]

Today I began the process of bleeding the brakes - only to find out that when I put pressure on the system, the exit fitting on the master cylinder leaks. I suspect this may just be because the fitting is old, so I'm going to replace the short line that runs from the master cylinder to the brake T. Everything else seems to be working, though, and other than the one leak, the system was holding pressure just fine. If I can't find a local place that will sell by the foot, I may just buy a 25-foot roll of nickel-copper to have extra on hand, in case.

[Sirrotica]

Best price I've found on ni-copp tubing is on amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nickel-co...f=nb_sb_noss_2

I usually buy 25 foot rolls and keep it around the garage so I have some when I need it. Of course being in rust country we need to replace brake line more often than AZ does.

[Parkman51]

Well, lucky me! When I went to the store today, I actually found that they had in stock a pre-flared, pre-fitting'd bridge line that was just the right size!

So I bent that into shape as well as I could and screwed it in tight. Tomorrow I'll repressurize the system and we'll see if the leak has been slain - or if it has managed somehow to survive.



Great lead on tubing, Sirrotica. When I've done all that needs doing with this project I think I'll make a list of all the places I bought things and what they were, so y'all can have the benefit of my experience (and stinginess) when looking for pieces and prices.

[Parkman51]

Got to bleeding today. I don't know why they made it so annoying to get to the master cylinder from anywhere, but it is what it is. I used my smallest C-clamp to open the master cylinder reservoir to refill it with brake fluid, and thankfully I had some spare fuel hose left over, so it wasn't too bad after I did it once.

The leak has been mostly slain: it seems to be there still but only marginally/very slow. As the driver's wheels have been bled successfully, the passenger ones will hopefully follow tomorrow, and if all seems to be in order I'll give the nut an extra tightening and see what happens.

[Parkman51]

Brakes are "done," by which I mean "three of the four brakes bled successfully." The rear brakes on the passenger side almost got stuck, but a stout tap on the brake pedal sent the old fluid flying from the lines. The front passenger brake did actually get stuck, and refused to dislodge. But three out of four is still good enough to move the car.

I also got a package from Ames today, containing a few missing/broken bumpers: two mid-door bumpers, a set of gas door bumpers, one trunk lid bumper, two hood bumpers, and the missing courtesy light lens. I also tried to get two regular door bumpers, but those didn't end up fitting.



Carburetor is expected to be done tomorrow, and I also ordered a new electric wiper motor.

Today's two questions:
1) What to do about the one unbleeding brake? Is it just a stuck wheel cylinder that needs replacement?
2) Which bumpers are the right ones for the door? I got these (https://www.amesperf.com/parts/2430/), but they're too tall. The door doesn't close with them installed.