VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 carb. on a 54

got a 54 belair, freshly tuned up, including a carb. rebuild. no vacume leaks, overall a strong running 41000 mile powerglide car. is it normal for these rochester bc carbs to loose the gas in the bowl or at least most of it within 3-4 days? the fuel pump is new, within a few years. once it fires up it runs like new, just a hassle to fire up. also i think on hot days im getting some vapor lock. i dont want to reroute the fuel lines, they have been where they are for 52 years. ive heard the close pin- tin foil routine, whats the fix? also anybody ever use a 6 volt electric fuel pump to prime the carbs on these old beasts? any help would be appreciated.

You could be experianceing some vapor lock but I doubt it, and "Within a few years, may be the key, the new unleaded gasoline eats the older fuel pump diaphrams up quickly, that happened to me, I had an old AC Delco pump rebuilt by Terrill Machine Company, replaceing the new asian job on the car after it started failing a few months after I bought the car. Felts Terrill told me "You need to use new diaphram material, NOS or NORS material is sorry,and won't last."
And yes I have noticed that when shut down hot some times some of the gasoline may perculate out of the bowl on ocassion, but I haven't experianced any hard starting unless the car sits in the garage for over two weeks at a time. I don't use the BC model carbs, the Automatic chokes of that era and I just don't Jive, I use the manual choke model B as is original on trucks, and hardly ever need to choke the engine unless the weather is 40 degrees or lower. Before you start the engine remove the air cleaner and work the throttle several times to see if there is any gasoline squirted into the horn, you should see some. I would suspect the fuel pump is letting the gas drain back into the tank.

As for a "fix" I haven't needed to do anything like clothes pins, foil etc. etc, just check out the fuel lines for restrictions, rust & crud, have a quality rebuilt fuel pump and correctly rebuild of a good straight carb core and be sure to use the correct insulation block between the carb and manifold. Check for vacuum leaks.

thanks, just when im ready to pull it apart and start checking stuff last night i say might as well give it a try. it sat 4 days 1 pump and fired up 1st try. im gonna let it sit a few days and check out the carb and fuel pump, dry roads to you bill pearson

If the engine was hot when last used you may experiance some difficulty in starting.This is because some gas "boiled" out of the carburetor in the hot soak period after the engine was shut off.This is normal with todays volitial gas.The fuel pump should refill the carb. with a few seconds of cranking.
Are you using the correct cold starting proceedure?
Before starting the engine give accelerator a full pump.This allows the automatic choke to close and squirts in a little gas.The with your foot off the gas pedal turn over the engine.When it starts it will be on fast idle.Let run a few seconds and hit the pedal to bring idle down.
Clothes pins on the fuel line are not necessary and do nothing to help.Anyoe that tells you this will help is not a mechanic.\, never was and never will be.When a car does vapor lock it is caused by the gas "boiling" in the fuel line BEFORE the pump or the fuel in the pump itself.Placing an eletric fuel pump at the tank would be the only way to cure the problem.

i usually let the engine crank over about 5-8 seconds when it has sat a few days prior to pumping gas into the engine. though i must admit i usually pump it 3 times and hold the accelerator down about 3/8 of a inch while cranking. maybe im flooding it. also i dont know if you guys remember me, but im the guy in the spring with the problem with the petronics ignition that was bad. remember i went all around it instead of taking all of your advice?. i still have the 40000 volt coil in it, with points, thinking i should go back to a origional style coil so not to burn up the points?. what u think? Also back to starting procedures, when the engine is hot what is the right way to fire it up -- i usually give it some gas and once in a while it takes a few tries,, im thinking ive been flooding it.. in the age of fuel injection sometimes we forget the simplest of things.

Stock is stock, it worked well for many years, there have always been after market products to increase performance, gas mileage, spark, etc., but when it comes down to it the parts designed to fit the engine are the ones that work best. I have no idea what a 40,000 volt coil would do to points but if you have an otherwise stock ignition I would sure go back to the old 6v factory spec coil.
FYI when I start the 52 after 4/5 days of nonuse I pull the choke out all the way, hit the gas pedal about 3 times and then the starter, generally starts with little or no problem. Two weeks and I have to prime it with a little gasoline down the carb, if you do this replace the air cleaner be fore attempting to start, a back fire under these circumstances can be dangerous.

Hey Homer; One of the first things I would check is to make sure that choke plate is all the way closed while you are cranking it. It may looked closed but when you start it there may be enough play in it that it will open on you.Have someone start it and see what that choke plate is doing. Also when its hot you should be able to start it by just hitting the key, no throttle. Timing off a bit will affect this. Good luck.

thanks guys, will play a little today,,, hopefully run into some of you at the lake erie meet. i will be there on and off, will probably drive one of my cars, either my 54 or a gold 63 nova ss. im so busy with my kids that i wont have time to show my cars, but will be there.. dry roads to you all.

Hey Bill how did you make out with that '54?

thinking i was just getting into a habit of pumping it too many times. after a week or so im now inclined to just crank it a bout 10 seconds, let it sit a minute or so then pump it once . it seems to work better, still a little rough,, thinking its me.