Thread: Ignition or fuel issue?

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Hmmm...

It's usually the people posting that don't give enough time for response.

It's actually amusing to me to see the members ran out of patience first.

Ha ha. I love this site.

Hot rods 4 ever!

vetteguy76,
Welcome to CHR. My approach would be to get a pressure gauge piped into the system and set your fuel pressure at the carb at 4.5 to 5 psig and see what that does. I believe that you've been lifting the needle off of the seat and flooding your carb, and the fact that you're blowing some fuel out of the primary vents is reason for concern for an engine fire. Hopefully reducing the pressure is all you need, especially considering that you had the carb gone through by the QuickFuel guys. Once you get the float level right then you can read the plugs to see if you've got jet issues with the 1200' change in altitude. That will involve making a hard run, shutting down the engine as soon as you come off the throttle and coasting to the side of the road to check a few plugs. You don't want to bring it down into the idle/mid-range before checking, but first things first, get your fuel pressure right.

As for the rusty pickup, you've moved from Chicago to Tampa (you didn't say if you drove the car or if it was trailered), where the daily relative humidity is pushing saturation. I expect that with your problems (started a couple of weeks after arriving...) you've made a bunch of start/stops without the engine getting up to temp enough that the distributor cooks off any ambient moisture, and if you barely get it warm then it's going to condense moisture as it cools. You may have to take the distributor apart and clean it out, but again first things first. Fix your fuel problem before your 'vette becomes a pile of flaming fiberglass by the roadside.
Hope you'll stick around and let us know what you find, especially details of the fix. You'll get there.

I'm thinking that your move, and the probability that the car doesn't get driven much are contributing factors to this problem you have.

First thing, address that carburetor; the subject of fuel pressure has been well discussed. I would either find a good set of instructions and a top level rebuild kit and refurbish it yourself, or find a carb pro to do it. Carbs need to be "kissed and hugged" from time to time just to let them know you still like them. If they sit too long without being worked out a good bit and heated up to good operating temps, especially with the low quality of today's gasoline, things in them, like o-rings, seals, and gaskets dry out and start to leak; they will do that over time, anyhow, but not as quickly, if you run the car enough on a regular basis to get it good and warm for a fair amount of time - think a ride on the interstate at traffic speeds for at least a half hour or preferably more.

The same train of thought goes for the distributor; it has rubber parts, seals, and venting devices that in good shape, seal it and prevent water or moisture from getting inside or collecting there. Over time, the rubber and other materials in these seals will dry out, probably crack, and let moisture or water get in, or won't vent the distributor to let accumulated condensation get out, and then you get problems. I would just take it apart and clean out the inside and spray it down with WD40 and wipe it out well, and put a whole new "rebuild kit" in there, including a new, fresh cap; check any grommets or other openings through the distributor body, too, to see that they are sound and sealing correctly.

That is a nice car, and it needs to be driven and worked out often to keep it in good shape.

.

I have figured out the problem! I have 3 points in my fuel line where I have psi gauges... one directly after the fuel pump, one at the fuel reg and one at the carb. Here is what I did.

Set the fuel psi to 5psi. replaced the 1cyl plug. set the float bowl level to just above the bottom of the sight glass. rejetted the carb 78 on the primary and 84 on the secondary. started the car and it seemed worse!!! Then, I noticed when I accelerated, the choke closed! The harder I accelerated the faster the choke was closing. I can't believe that all this time it was the choke. I turned the choke adjuster so the choke was under spring tension holding it open. I took the car out and it ran good. Pulled the 1cyl plug and it was white... time to work on the jetting! That's easy enough!

Congratulations! Gotta feel good to have found the main problem and making steps to having it done-done! Thanks for coming back with the update, too, and hoping that you'll continue to post as you home in on the final adjustments to get the 'vette "Floridized".