Got Gas?

- well it certainly seems as though I don’t. I was having some idle issues with the Autolite 1100 (read here), causing the car to die, and cranking it back eventually caused the battery to drain dead. So I jerked the battery yesterday and charged it overnight. Installed the battery this morning and it cranks hard, but wont start.

I pulled the air cleaner off the carb and pulled the throttle linkage, but to my surprise did not see a squirt of gas or any sign of the barrel being wet. I pulled the hose off the front of the carb and again pulled the throttle linkage, but again no gas came through the line or hose, at least not in the engine compartment.

Yesterday I was putting tools back into my trunk, after installing a new shifter cable (read here), when I smelled gas just a little stronger than normally, but after sniffing around the trunk and undercarriage the smell dissipated. I thought I was pretty mechanically inclined before, but to be honest I don’t have a clue where to start. This is my daily driver, so time is important.

Now that I think about it, your right, the car was running all those times I saw the gas squirt when I pulled the throttle linkage. Forgot the rotation of the motor pumps gas in through the line to the carb, doh! So I'll at least need to crank it over. I'll try your suggestion(s) ASAP.

Thanks!

Jon

Success! Poured some gas directly into the barrel and she fired right up. Readjusted the carb with a vacuum gauge (more by ear) and noticed a slight exhaust leak near the headers. Buttoned her up and she ran better than a top. I think initially my curb idle speed was too low. Not to mention the car was parked on an incline for about a week, but the exhaust leak wasn’t helping either. Thanks for your help guys. If you can think of anything else I should check, let me know.