I had to change my entire fuel system from the carb to the gas tank on my 52 dodge. Good luck!
CK5
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57 Pontiac "Zero Fox"
- Thread starter tRustyK5
- Start date
I am counting on a fuel tank and sender for sure, I've heard a lot of horror stories from guys that tried to save a decent looking tank. My lines from the tank forward look super, I'm going to try to get some solvent through them and blow them out.
The carb has me irritated, as the guy who sold it to me insisted it came off a good running car. I haven't removed the top yet, but I'm likey gonna find crud blocking the fuel from filling the bowl.
I did come up with a better temp fuel tank...
that's the overflow tank from my Blazer. I washed it out really good and zip tied it to the firewall of the 57. It has a fill cap, doesn't leak, nests very nicely beside the heater box...it's winning all around. I hit the key with the fuel line not connected to the carb, and it shot fuel 4 or 5 feet. The carb, still dry though. So, that's next is to dick with the carb.
The carb has me irritated, as the guy who sold it to me insisted it came off a good running car. I haven't removed the top yet, but I'm likey gonna find crud blocking the fuel from filling the bowl.
I did come up with a better temp fuel tank...
that's the overflow tank from my Blazer. I washed it out really good and zip tied it to the firewall of the 57. It has a fill cap, doesn't leak, nests very nicely beside the heater box...it's winning all around. I hit the key with the fuel line not connected to the carb, and it shot fuel 4 or 5 feet. The carb, still dry though. So, that's next is to dick with the carb.
So when my car had it's accident the hood crunched into the rad support, which pushed into the air cleaner assembly, which broke the base of the carb. I put out a parts request on another forum and a senoir member there offered me a carb "from a running 57 Pontiac". He said it's a little dirty on the outside but should be dialed in nicely. I gave $50...
I have been beating my head against the wall trying to get this old girl to start. I finally got my portable fuel system sorted out using my Blazer's overflow tank. One more potential problem area ff the list. I checked for fuel flow and got what appeared to be normal flow from the hard line at the carb. I figure maybe the in line filter in the fuel inlet may have some crud...
So, I'm thinking dis-assembly, clean and re-assemble and hope for the best. I grab my broken carb and gently take it apart hoping to harvest the gaskets and learn how it all goes together. The gaskets were fine, and my broken carb was pretty clean inside. This is the broken base...
I get all my parts laid out, a small bowl with screws and other small parts and pull the other carb off the intake and bring it over to the bench. I start pullng screws out and stuff, but it doesn't want to come apart. I keep gently working it until finally the top comes off. Tell me if this appears to be something that came off a good running car to you?
The fuel bowl...
Right now all I can think is he grabbed this carb from the wrong pile, in the meantime I'm not super happy.
Anyways, I don't have a kit here but figured I could clean and re-assemble and hope for the best.
So I hit the key and...
nothing. So far I've just been able to make shit look clean, but not actually work.
I need a carb kit I guess. The accel pump isn't doing anything, and it could probably use more of a soak.
So I thought I'd show you guys the original door panels after a bit of cleaning.
original seat upholstery...
horn/steering.
Time for dinner, then eBay and see if I can find a kit for that carb...
I have been beating my head against the wall trying to get this old girl to start. I finally got my portable fuel system sorted out using my Blazer's overflow tank. One more potential problem area ff the list. I checked for fuel flow and got what appeared to be normal flow from the hard line at the carb. I figure maybe the in line filter in the fuel inlet may have some crud...
So, I'm thinking dis-assembly, clean and re-assemble and hope for the best. I grab my broken carb and gently take it apart hoping to harvest the gaskets and learn how it all goes together. The gaskets were fine, and my broken carb was pretty clean inside. This is the broken base...
I get all my parts laid out, a small bowl with screws and other small parts and pull the other carb off the intake and bring it over to the bench. I start pullng screws out and stuff, but it doesn't want to come apart. I keep gently working it until finally the top comes off. Tell me if this appears to be something that came off a good running car to you?
The fuel bowl...
Right now all I can think is he grabbed this carb from the wrong pile, in the meantime I'm not super happy.
Anyways, I don't have a kit here but figured I could clean and re-assemble and hope for the best.
So I hit the key and...
nothing. So far I've just been able to make shit look clean, but not actually work.
I need a carb kit I guess. The accel pump isn't doing anything, and it could probably use more of a soak.
So I thought I'd show you guys the original door panels after a bit of cleaning.
original seat upholstery...
horn/steering.
Time for dinner, then eBay and see if I can find a kit for that carb...
So here's my observation Rene...
I posted ^ and then left work
On the drive home, saw a 57 2 door Pontiac goin down the road.
It's a sign from the car gods I tell ya
It wasn't Canadian though, didn't say "eh" on the fender
I posted ^ and then left work
On the drive home, saw a 57 2 door Pontiac goin down the road.
It's a sign from the car gods I tell ya
It wasn't Canadian though, didn't say "eh" on the fender
LOL!
We call them Cheviacs here. built on the same assembly line using 95% of the same parts as the chevy. My car is basically a 57 Chevy 150 with Pontiac grill and tail lights.
I hope your sign from the car Gods is true. I can't believe this thing isn't running yet.
We call them Cheviacs here. built on the same assembly line using 95% of the same parts as the chevy. My car is basically a 57 Chevy 150 with Pontiac grill and tail lights.
I hope your sign from the car Gods is true. I can't believe this thing isn't running yet.
Does it run today!?
That carb probably did run good last time it was running..that may have been 1977 though...
..
I have learned to run anything I have with a carb completely out of fuel,then I squirt some oil or diesel into the vent tube till the float bowl is full,to prevent that from happening...it takes only a few months for todays gas to gum up like that..especially if water is mixed with it..
I've had to boil some small engine carbs in lemon juice to get rid of the ethanol goo that plugs internal jet passages up,and it worked...after carb cleaner only made it "look" clean...I think the citric acid dissolves the corn based ethanol better than petroleum solvents..some guys are using battery electrolyte or toilet bowl cleaner to "boil" out severely gooped up carbs ,15 minutes with no brass parts attatched (or they might dissolve) ,is all it takes with that stuff...
I do have a "complete" 1 bbl off a 250 straight six of unknown condition in my garage,its been there probably 15+ years ..
Also have a new in the box Holley Economaster 2 bbl for a '76 350 chevy..its probably dried up like an old prune by now though...
I kept many "good" carbs like a Carter AFB I used to run,and some 2GC "small bore" Rochesters,but they are all probably in poor shape by now..
..I have learned to run anything I have with a carb completely out of fuel,then I squirt some oil or diesel into the vent tube till the float bowl is full,to prevent that from happening...it takes only a few months for todays gas to gum up like that..especially if water is mixed with it..
I've had to boil some small engine carbs in lemon juice to get rid of the ethanol goo that plugs internal jet passages up,and it worked...after carb cleaner only made it "look" clean...I think the citric acid dissolves the corn based ethanol better than petroleum solvents..some guys are using battery electrolyte or toilet bowl cleaner to "boil" out severely gooped up carbs ,15 minutes with no brass parts attatched (or they might dissolve) ,is all it takes with that stuff...
I do have a "complete" 1 bbl off a 250 straight six of unknown condition in my garage,its been there probably 15+ years ..
Also have a new in the box Holley Economaster 2 bbl for a '76 350 chevy..its probably dried up like an old prune by now though...
I kept many "good" carbs like a Carter AFB I used to run,and some 2GC "small bore" Rochesters,but they are all probably in poor shape by now..
I pm'd that guy, he said it was on a running car last spring. I recall the video...and he didn't pull it off the car until I bought it. Crazy! At any rate I did salvage the one part I needed for my carb.
I decided I needed to do a more thorough job on the carb, being convinced most of my issues are fuel problems. I picked up some carb cleaner, and a quart of acetone plus some small brushes. One is a fiber brush, one is brass, one is stainless...plus I had a decent old toothbrush. I dis-assembled everything down to the throttle blades and check balls. I used the carb spray with the aiming tip to blow cleaner through the small orifices and confirm they weren't blocked. Third time into this carb should be the charm right?
So, I pre-filled the bowl and bolted it up for the eleventieth time. I've become pessimistic, so when it started I had nobody with a camera anywhere near. It ran for about two minutes. It won't idle yet, but running is a big victory for me. I am not a loser! lol and this old girl is a RUNNER!
I have no cooling system yet, so I'm going to let it cool down completely, then fire it up again on video. No vid no proof right?
I decided I needed to do a more thorough job on the carb, being convinced most of my issues are fuel problems. I picked up some carb cleaner, and a quart of acetone plus some small brushes. One is a fiber brush, one is brass, one is stainless...plus I had a decent old toothbrush. I dis-assembled everything down to the throttle blades and check balls. I used the carb spray with the aiming tip to blow cleaner through the small orifices and confirm they weren't blocked. Third time into this carb should be the charm right?
So, I pre-filled the bowl and bolted it up for the eleventieth time. I've become pessimistic, so when it started I had nobody with a camera anywhere near. It ran for about two minutes. It won't idle yet, but running is a big victory for me. I am not a loser! lol and this old girl is a RUNNER!
I have no cooling system yet, so I'm going to let it cool down completely, then fire it up again on video. No vid no proof right?
Well, after 49 years and 3 months it runs again!!
Now I can work on front end sheet metal and a cooling system among other things.
Now I can work on front end sheet metal and a cooling system among other things.
Fock yeah!!!
That's way cool Rene! Congrats! Must feel good?
That's way cool Rene! Congrats! Must feel good?
....Yaaay!...now we need to see the first 
...Sounds like it might have a sticky intake valve or one that is too tight..saw it spit back through the carb a few times...could just be cold and not enough choke too I suppose..
Does your 261 have the "octane selector" on the base of the distributor ?..(it looks like a slotted metal dew-hickey the distributor hold down bolt goes through ,with timing degree marks on it,zero in the center,and BTDC and ATDC )..
I recall my 235 having one,and setting the points up correctly was a bit tricky,I also found out the distributor was a tooth "off" and someone just rotated it all the way advanced to make up for it...it ran much better after I got the distributor in the right spot..
I read that octane selector was set up so when you set it at zero,the timing was at its "basic" setting,and you could advance or retard it when you changed grades of gasoline to avoid spark knock or running too hot retarted..
Here's a photo of it...I remember the distributor in my 235 rotated with the vacuum advance too,which was kind of weird...instead of having a moveable breaker plate ..
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It does have that octane selector. My gut says the timing is really retarded. Tomorrow I'm going to advance things a little using the octane selector and see what difference it makes.
All the valves are free, that much i know for sure having had the head off. I guarantee the rockers are not set correctly, but I need the lifters to free up. I'll try the timing first, then move back to rocker adjusting and hopefully finish off with some fine tuning on mixture and stuff.
If you can believe it, it does have a brake pedal that doesn't go to the floor. I don't think I'd trust em enough to go for a drive without checking them, but they may be is decent shape. The brake lines look decent. It sat for five decades, but it sat in a dry garage with a concrete floor.
The fortunate thing is this was a good running 9 year old car when the guy had the wreck. Nobody did a thing to it between then and when I got it. Things like having the distributor off by one tooth are just unlikely. I'm mostly battling age/sitting/inertia...
All the valves are free, that much i know for sure having had the head off. I guarantee the rockers are not set correctly, but I need the lifters to free up. I'll try the timing first, then move back to rocker adjusting and hopefully finish off with some fine tuning on mixture and stuff.
If you can believe it, it does have a brake pedal that doesn't go to the floor. I don't think I'd trust em enough to go for a drive without checking them, but they may be is decent shape. The brake lines look decent. It sat for five decades, but it sat in a dry garage with a concrete floor.
The fortunate thing is this was a good running 9 year old car when the guy had the wreck. Nobody did a thing to it between then and when I got it. Things like having the distributor off by one tooth are just unlikely. I'm mostly battling age/sitting/inertia...
Oh yeah, once it's been running a bit more I'm going to follow up with another compression test to see if the numbers get any better.
Awesome Brother. That's way cool. Glad that you got the ol girl fired up. 
Thanks Mike. It's fought me every step of the way so far...so I figure I'm on the right track.
Funny thing I noticed...is the half pound of seeds and shit that got blown out trough the tailpipe. This thing still has a full exhaust system on it...which is just crazy.
Funny thing I noticed...is the half pound of seeds and shit that got blown out trough the tailpipe. This thing still has a full exhaust system on it...which is just crazy.
I've seen live mice and nests blow out of cars we started at the junkyard that sat "forever"...some of the best laughs we had !..watching a dazed mouse run in circles after being shot out of a tail pipe like a human cannonball is hilarious..
Your lucky it has just sat un-molested all those years and wasn't fiddled with or butchered--sometimes figuring out what a previous owner did is worse than anything else..(that is what we faced daily at the junkyard)..
If I remember right,the procedure to set the distributor up was to set the octane selector to zero--then turn the engine by hand to the timing mark on the flywheel (my 235 had a ball bearing looking thing in the flywheel you see through a hole in the block,instead of marks on the balancer,for a timing indicator ! )--then using a test lamp on the coil negative & ground,you'd set the points so they just opened as the timing mark went by the pointer,as indicated by the test light...
Some of the straight sixes had mechanical lifters up till 1962,but Chevy also started using hydraulics on the ones with a powerglide around 1953,probably when they went to full pressure oiling systems with a pump and rods that had insert bearings instead of babbit..
I agree if you have hydraulic lifters it will likely take time for them to free up and "self-adjust"...
Your lucky it has just sat un-molested all those years and wasn't fiddled with or butchered--sometimes figuring out what a previous owner did is worse than anything else..(that is what we faced daily at the junkyard)..
If I remember right,the procedure to set the distributor up was to set the octane selector to zero--then turn the engine by hand to the timing mark on the flywheel (my 235 had a ball bearing looking thing in the flywheel you see through a hole in the block,instead of marks on the balancer,for a timing indicator ! )--then using a test lamp on the coil negative & ground,you'd set the points so they just opened as the timing mark went by the pointer,as indicated by the test light...
Some of the straight sixes had mechanical lifters up till 1962,but Chevy also started using hydraulics on the ones with a powerglide around 1953,probably when they went to full pressure oiling systems with a pump and rods that had insert bearings instead of babbit..
I agree if you have hydraulic lifters it will likely take time for them to free up and "self-adjust"...
I'm just gonna advance it a little and see what it does. I do have the factory service manual, so the "real" procedures are in there. The 261 has hydraulic lifters for sure. I'm hoping they free up so I can do a final adjust on the rockers. I may throw a quart of varsol into the oil and see if that speeds up the unsticking process.
I picked up a radiator a couple of weeks back, I might try to get that hooked up so I can run this thing longer...
I picked up a radiator a couple of weeks back, I might try to get that hooked up so I can run this thing longer...
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