Hi fellas, Happy Easter. My apologies if there is a thread on here, but I did a search and couldn't find one My daughter and her husband have just bought their first American Car and my wife and I couldn't be happier for them. As with all old cars there are some small issues that will need ironing out. It is a reasonably tidy car for its age but I haven't seen it yet in person. It has a 394 with a Rochester carb, 2 barrel. The main issue that they are having and stopping them from enjoying it atm is that when you go around a roundabout or corner it splutters and almost cuts out and has done so a couple of time. My questions to you folk that know these carbs is this a float issue or do they have floats in then. They both feel this is a fuel problem as they are both mechanics and they pump the pedal to keep it going. Is there something else I can look for when I get to see them on Sunday to help them. I have never rebuilt these type of carbs before as it isn't a 97 or a 94, lol. Thankyou in advance for any help as it is much appreciated. Have a great weekend out there Cheers
The Rochester 2G series (this one is probably a 2GC) are some of the very finest 2-barrel carburetors every produced. IF the carburetor is the culprit, it may be that the fuel valve has wear which would cause the fuel level to be too high. These carbs do not have an inherent cornering issue (unless your kinfolk are practicing for the next street gran prix). Original float would have been brass. Have them test the float in hot water and rebuilt the carb. I read that they think it is fuel, but often cutting out on corners on an older car is caused by an ignition wire being stretched because the motor mount rubber has fatigued or ...? Another possibility is a vacuum hose that may create a intermittent vacuum leak when the engine flexes. Thinking about it, this may be more of a possibility that ignition, as you stated they pump the throttle to keep it going; which would alleviate a lean condition caused by a vacuum leak. I would not automatically rule out ignition issues or vacuum issues. Jon
Being mechanics, I wouldn't think they'd have much problem taking the thing apart and seeing how much crud is in the float bowl. ;-)
Likely it is gunked up. I had a 2GC on my '64 Olds and it worked well. I rebuilt it at my mom's kitchen table in 1974. Try to source a US made kit. Mine was a Borg Warner IIRC.
Awesome thankyou very much for your help. I should say that when I mentioned they are mechanics this is their first carbed car that they have owned. He has since mentioned there is a vac hose issue. As this is a weekend that I have off, I will go and check it out and follow all of your advice. Cheers
New fuel doesn't lube the internals of old carbs well. To that end latent heat in the engine compartment will make the needle stick and reduce fuel volume in the bowl. Everything cools off and the WTF hits because it all checks out. I'm a big fan of Daytona Carb Co's needle/seat assembly. 2G/2GCs are among the easiest to rebuild. Ethanol compatible rebuild kits work well. Also from Daytona, great fast service, friendly pricing, located in FL.
^^^^This is a real possibility.^^^^ A friend of mine had an O/T Chevelle (1 year too new for the HAMB) with a very similar issue. It would starve for fuel any time he went around a long right-hand curve at highway (or greater) speeds, and it plagued him for a long time. He finally found a spot on the fuel line that was worn through where it had rubbed against the chassis, but under normal circumstances the contact between the chassis and line was tight enough to seal the leak. However, under the long right hand curve circumstances there was enough flex in the chassis to slightly uncover the leak and the pump drew air instead of fuel. Replace the fuel line and the problem was solved.
Does sound like carb rebuild time. Could be float level, or water in the bowl or any number of things. There can be quite a few vacuum lines on that car depending on model and accessories, everything from fuel pump to trunk release.
Wow awesome and thank you for all the replies. I went and had a look yesterday and pulled the top of the carb to check the float, needle and seat etc. Float was ok and no holes, checked for any crud under the needle and all seemed ok there as well. What I thought was unusual was there was hardly any fuel in the bowl when I took off the top. Thought there would have been a bit more in there. We started it up and ran well and my son in law said that it didn't usually run that well from start up. However we couldn't take it for a spin as the generator is in for a rebuild. He did say that the booster has a leak yesterday after I had a look at the carb, lol. Will check out Daytona for a carb rebuild kit and will check all the advice you fellas have given, stay tuned, cheers
Has it got one of those inline barbed fuel filters...that caused me a ton of intermittent grief...the filter inside came unglued...yes unglued and being a Chrome body you couldn't see it...took it off after reading a Thread hear emptied it a shook it...sounded like a kids rattle...that's a truly easy fix...pays to shake it before install as well...
Hey @Stogy ,yes it does. I haven't seen one like this b4 as it has 2 lines coming out of it, which I would guess is a return line to the tank? I did say we need to replace it any ways, cheers
...This was a Spectre chrome filter This was my replacement... It would do it basically after a bump or turn and bog and bog felt like 8 cylinders turned into 4...I always got home sometimes it would improve all of a sudden...what happened is the filter would shift and near block the hole towards the fuel pump and restrict the flow dramatically... Yes that is a return line I believe as you have mentione...but a filter broken loose may be capable of doing the same...
Remember that the float takes up quite a bit of space in the float chamber, so what appears to be a low level of fuel in the chamber may well be at the required level when the float is installed.
On my '64 88, that had the OG fuel pump with the glass bowl. I had cleaned that out once but the car was still prone to crapping out at the worst times. The replacement fuel pump was the crimped style. The 2GC also has a bronze filter at the fuel inlet on the carb. Get a new one of those or a good quality inline filter.
Possibly a check valve, which are very cheap. I used to pinch off the hose and see how the car behaved before condemning the booster.
I managed to get the kids to send some pics through to me regarding the carb, brake booster and fuel pump. Will be having another crack at it over the weekend. Thankyou in advanced. Cheers
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