So here it goes, <O</O I picked up a t bucket this summer and I drove it a few time and it quits running, I understand the three main components that make a motor run, fuel, fire, and air. But this thing has me pulling my hair out. <O</O All I want to do is drive it. The motor 1965 chevy 327<O</O 2 holley 390 carbs<O</O Mallory dual point’s distributor. <O</O <O</O So the first thing I did was replaced and gap the new points. It ran great for a few days then started to die on me. <O</O So I was told you can run only one set of points so I pulled one out, ran fine and then kept dieing on me. <O</O Before all of this I put a new coil in it. The plugs are still getting a weak spark. I advanced and retard the timing playing with. <O</O The screws on the metering blocked I screwed in until closed and back out one and half turn. <O</O <O</O It has a mr gasket 12s fuel pump with no regulator and the gauge for fuel pressure bounced up to around nine. So I added a regulator and set it to 6-7 pounds of pressure.<O</O <O</O I hand cranked the motor over and the timing chain seems to be tight. <O</O <O</O Any suggestions would be wonderful, I only have a few more months of driving time and i wan to make the most of it.
My first suggestion is to determine whether you have a spark or fuel issue when the engine dies. Can you test for spark when it won't run or add some fuel down the carb? Either way will help you narrow down the problem.
you have your ignition cut down to 6 volts?, so your driving along and the car looses power and then quites, you sit there for 15-20 min or so and it fires up and drives for awhile and then quites again, could be a pluged gas line.
Could be a weak connection...check that the wiring on the ENTIRE ignition circuit is in good shape. Make sure the battery negative is solidly connected to the engine block. Also, make sure your charging system is working, a weak battery won't help things. You should get 12-14V measured at the battery terminals when it is running, 12V at the battery with it not running, and 10V or so measured at the points/coil with the ignition on but the engine not running. Fuel? Does the tank have adequate venting? As the fuel level drops, you gotta get the air to fill the space from somewhere. As mentioned above, clogged lines or filter could do it too.
i'm broke but i did consider trying to locate an HEI some where, sometimes it fires right back, but most of the time it does not. I will check the arm on the points tonight and look for dis coloring. and the guy I got it from dropped a RCI fuel cell in it and plumbed it in, it does have vent port, roll over port and back feed port on top they do have the red caps on them still, so I would say it is not vented at all. WOW guys thanks for all the replys, I totally did not ecpect this manys.
i did have the alternator tested it was good, and if I do not try and start it a bunch the battery is recharging. it stays at about 11 to 12 volts.
In your first post you say "Before all of this I put a new coil in it", Do you mean it was fine until you put the new coil on?
a charged, good battery should be 12.5 with no load, not running. should show 14 to 14.5 running , checked at the batt.
I thought the coil was problem so I bought a new one, replaced it. was doing the same thing with the old and new coil. the coil is Arcing great at the distributor cap, and has power where it enters the side mallory too.
It ain't the alternator. If the batt is strong enough to crank the motor, over it's strong enough for a hot spark. A battery that's almost dead still gives enough for a hot spark. Playing around with the timing won't get hotter spark. You have isolated a problem, weak spark. Do something to get a strong spark. Whether that's your only problem, who knows??, but no point in searching for more until that's fixed.
The fuel cell needs to be vented. If all the other ports are closed off the pump won't be able pull fuel out.
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