Yeah I know where the screws are. As far as timing goes I have no idea. Don't you have to have the car running for more than 5 seconds to figure it out?

 

yeah probably like 15-20 seconds min

 

What carb are you running? (I know some better than others)

Yeah, if you don't already know what your timing is set at, you'll need the car running and a timing light. Have you moved the distributor lately? If you haven't, then even if your timing isn't quite right, it should still be okay enough to get the car started.

Actually, while I'm on the subject of distributor, make sure you push all the boots down so they're good and tight on the cap and on the plugs themselves. And have you put on a new cap and rotor lately? Do you still have points or have you upgraded to electronic? I once forgot to check out my cap and rotor for so long that my car wouldn't run. When I finally thought to check, I felt pretty silly.

Okay, so you get it started, but then it dies. I'm still leaning more toward this being a carburetor issue, but maybe not. Did you also read through the other thread about the car that starts and then dies? As I recall page 2 had lots of good advice. (Other thread)

 

when u open up the carb to see the float chamber after starting is there gas in the chamber, or is it gone, sounds like fuel filter/line clogging or fuel pump not working.

 

I'm starting to think the same thing. My dizzy cap is in good shape and the distributor hasn't been moved lately, although it is still on points. The boots are pushed down well too so I really think it's a fuel problem - especially considering I have to put gas in the carb to get it started. Clogged fuel line sounds like a big possibilty sinve it hasn't been replaced.

Toolwench, I'm running a recently rebuilt Autolite 2100.

 

play with the idle screw if the a/f screws didnt do it and see if u can just get it to keep running then see what your rpms are at.Maybe the screw was set to low.Sounds most definitely like a carb issue.

 

I'm getting frustrated now. I set the a/f screws to the specified amounts and put a little bit of gas in the carb. It started relatively quickly and to keep it running I revved it a bit. The RPMs went up when I did this which I guess is good because it means gas was getting to the carburetor but then it died again while I was hitting the gas. Did this a few more times. The RPMs seemed a little high though. So what way would I turn the screws to get the RPMs down a little bit. That's the only thing I can think might be wrong...

 

When it stops, do you hear gas still trickling down into the intake?

As for the idle speed screw: I can't remember. Whenever I forget, I crank it one way or the other and watch which way the linkage goes. If the linkage goes back, that's faster idle speed. If it goes forward, that's slower.

It does sound like you're having a carb issue. Sometimes they get hard to diagnose without actually standing there in front of it and listening to what's going on.

It seems like you're either getting not enough fuel or too much fuel.

 

Dont mess with those screws again until u get it running.u turn the idle screw on the linkage to the right i.e. tighten it to increase idle.Do that just to the point of getting it to run.Then slowly back it off till it starts to die and then tighten back down right back to where its smooth.