Hey guys....So I put a new motor in the 72 Grabber today (308) and being more familiar with EFI, I was just wondering, aside from priming in the oil pump, what's good first start procedure for a carb motor? Also, I cranked the motor quite a bit and there is still no fuel in the fuel filter. How long should this take? Thanks! You rule!
Does it have a mech. pump or an electric pump? Did you put new lines in,if the car's been sit'n ya may need to clear the lines and check them for rust.
Sorry. It's a mechanical pump. The car has only been sitting about 2 months. I drove the car with the factory 302 up until it was time to do the swap.
as far as initial start up , on a carb. engine I would first make sure the dist. is in as close to being in time as possible, and with a mech. fuel pump make sure to have enough fuel in the tank ,then by hand and a small squirt bottle fill the carbs float bowl with fuel (through the vent tube on most carbs works) then work the carb linkage to see if the carb squirts in fuel, if not use a little out of the squirt bottle to have enough fuel present to get it started right away, after it is fired up for just a few seconds the pump should have fuel to the carb after that... I also drill a small 1/8th in. hole in the thermostat to purge air out of the engine on start up to prevent air pockets inside the cooling system , also if its not a roller camshaft you don't want to crank the engine over with the stater for very much as it can damage the new cam if its a flat tappet (non roller) as it has to go through its break in period (1,500 rpm for about 20 min.) to finnish hardening the cam lobes and working finnish on lifters. thats why its important to have the timing close enough, and fuel to fire up right away , then as soon as it fires up set the timing ,bring engine up to break in rpm, and check for leaks/over heating etc. a lot goes on in a short time, unlike modern engines with roller cams that need no break in and electronic fuel injection and engine management new engines are just hooked up and basicaly started.... compared to older engines and components... not that new engine designs don't have their own challenges on initial start they are just a little more forgiving... good luck.
Flat tappet or roller? Roller will give you more lee-way. Flat-tappet you want to start and run as quick as possible and keep above 1500 rpms for 20 mins, if the cam or lifters are new. Roller, you can just get it running whenever it decides to light up and stay lit...
It's a flat tappet but the cam and lifters are not new. I still want to get it started as fast as possible though! Thanks!
If cam and lifters are already broken in, then you can crank it until the battery dies and it won't hurt anything.
So the rig will run for a few seconds off starting fluid but I'm still not seeing any fuel in the filter. Any ideas? I did re-use old pump off the factory motor. Could that be a problem? Kinda lost right now. Thanks gang!
First, how long are you letting it run? It could take a while to get the fuel from the tank to the carb, especially if the lines are full of air and the pump needs to create a vacuum to suck it forward. I would start by pulling the line off the intake of the fuel pump and get fuel to there first. I don't want to suggest you siphon it, but somehow get the fuel that far and the pump will take over immediately (possibly put the hose on the ground and gravity should make it come forward, but you may have to do this behind the front tire first, since the hose starts it's upward ascent right after that), unless... When you put the fuel pump in, did you feel the arm on it push up against something in the engine? There is an eccentric ring on the front of the cam that pushes the actuating rod on the fuel pump up and down, causing the pumping action. Unless you had that cam exactly in the right place, you should have had to force the pump on against the spring-loaded actuator arm. If you cannot get fuel to the pump, You may want to blow air back from the pump to the tank, to clear any obstructions you might have. Dont use high pressure. Just 10 psi, maybe 20. You want to blow stuff out of the lines and back to the tank, not make your fuel lines explode. So, in a nutshell, make sure the lines are clear and flowing. Confirm that you pump works, then run the car.
Scooper, I re-checked the cam today, as well as the fuel pump and made sure it was in right. As far as letting it run, it only runs until the starting fluid goes away and that's about 2 seconds. It is possible that the lines have air in them especially since it sat with the line, coming out of the fender well open for 2 months. I'm gonna have a buddy crank it while i hit it with starting fluid to keep it running and see what happens. Thanks!
Starting fluid is not the best to run a engine on,,, should only be to get it to kick. If you have a gas can, run a line from the can to the pump. Pump should pick-up the gas and get it to carb. If the engine (fill carb up) won't run this way, pump line or carb (could be float adjustment) ain't working.
