I just bought this car and it will crank and run but have to use starter spray and very hard to get to run. Once it is running it will idle ok with mild miss but wants to cut off on acceleration. My plan is to rebuild carb, new plugs, plug wires & petroncis iginator. Does this sound like the best procedure. I just can't get to crank without the starter spray and it is hard to get to stay running. Any ideas appreciated

"Crank" means the starter turns the engine over. Sounds like it won't run without starting fluid. Carburetor operation and repair manuals and links to training movies and carb repair/modification threads are posted here for free download. Tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread. And you'll want the three books described in this thread.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

The first thing you need to do is post some photos,
vintage wagons are always cool
after that...

agree a good tune up along with a carb overhaul and getting the choke working properly is always a great place to start on older engines.
Is there fresh gas in the tank?
a valve adjustment check would also be worthwhile, having the valve cover off will allow you to investigate the amount of gunk built up in the engine. Don't be surprised if it is a lot,, the motor oils of the 60's and 70's was not at all like we have today.
A compression check would tell a lot about the integrity of the rings - valves..

Vote #2 on removing the valve cover and re-lashing the valves, before doing much else...
Tight valve lash will make the engine hard to start and will cause a 'miss' at idle.
DD

What is a good site to post pictures to?
Thanks

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Have you checked the ignition timing? My '74 ran like that (smooth idle, but boggy acceleration) and it turned out the timing was retarded by almost 10 degrees. Setting it to specs improved things dramatically.

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A few pictures[/img]

So if we walk out to a stone cold engine on a car that has been sitting awhile...???

Your under hood picture shows no battery. Do you have one fully charged?

How fresh is the fuel in the tank? Is there a fuel filter ahead of the carb to trap debris like rust from the bottom of your tank?

Hard to start says the choke may not be properly adjusted, but also...

You said it wants to "cut off on acceleration"

This leads me to believe the accelerator pump diaphragm in the carb is toast. An easy thing to test. remove the air cleaner and shine a flashlight down the the carb throat. Look for a squirt of fuel when you open the carb butterfly. No squirt... bad accel pump. This will make it hard to start because there is no rich fuel mixture to be exploded by the plugs, and make it fall on its face when you crack the throttle... "cut off on acceleration".

Of course this assumes that there was fuel in the float bowl to begin with. Maybe crank the engine for 10 seconds without stepping on the gas before this test. Of course this assumes fuel in the tank and a functional fuel pump to move fuel up to the carb. Assume nothing. Verify the function of your vehicles systems. The fact that it ran at all is good verification.

And a proper valve adjustment makes an amazing improvement in these engines performance. Great advice !!!

Please post your results. Sweet ride, and awesome looking shop in the background! I'm jealous

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Ditto what everyone else has already said. Carb rebuild, valve adjustment, full tune-up. After you get it running god, I strongly recommend you upgrade the brakes to a dual chamber master cylinder at the very least, if not upgrading to larger brakes all the way around.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.