VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 36 Engine Stall

Hi All,

Was driving the 36 standard today doing about 35 mph and started to lose power made it a little way more and engine just died. Coasted to the side street and hopped out to take a look. Notice strange under the hood and there was no odd sounds when it was running. I hopped back in and it started. i drove a little more and same thing happened. Again waited and started up again an got her home. Happened again at home, but also started again after a little while. Gas gauge read 1/2 tank and figure its not a fuel in the tank problem as it keeps starting. i have 2 gas bowels, one on the fuel pump and one with a filter just before the carb. I did see the one by the carb be half full but one cranked over it filled right back up. Fuel pump was rebuilt about 5 years ago. I was driving for an hour before hand with no issues. The only thing i can think of is vapor lock, but have had the car for 25 years and never had that problem. it was warm today but only in the low to mid 80s and don't think it was to hot for the car. Could this be something else? A coil maybe? any ideas, just wondering if i need to check something else before i take it our again. thanks

I woould guess it is starving fo fuel due to a obstruction in the gas line if it is fuel related.
If an ignition problem the condenser or the coil.

That sounds like a coil getting hot and shutting down. Especially if you are running 5 to 10 min and it does it. That is just about the time it takes to stop. Cooling down will cause it to run again until it gets hot. That coil will run hot if you have an eye clamp on a wire that has worked loose from the wire where it is crimped onto it. Or a wire that is partly broken in half but is covered with good insulation. Give your wires a tug to see it the eye clamp comes off or if the wire will pull in half. If the wire is good then replace the coil. That is my best and first thing I would do. I have two 1936. Standard Town Sedan and 1/2 ton truck. Good luck and try test that wiring first.

Thanks - wires all seem tight - need to get into the top of the electrolock to fully check. Any idea if anyone still makes (or rebuilds) a coil with an Electrolock? Thanks

These shutdowns can be frustrating. You have to be organized and logical in your troubleshooting.

The next time this happens you could pour water on the coil or wrap it with a wet rag. That might help determine if the coil is overheating especially if it starts up right away.

Another idea to consider is that maybe the fuel cap vent got plugged by bugs or something else. The next time it stops slowly open the fuel cap. If the tank is under vacuum you should hear air rush into the tank.

I know this is late, but Kanter says they can get the old style coils. Hendo

Hello Robdi1,

We bought a very nice '36 Master Town Sedan out of AZ without knowing much about it (900 + point car). We did not even get a chance to drive it since the Chevrolet dealership could not locate the keys when we were there. When I had it shipped to our house the sorting out started. One problem was similar to yours. Would start and run great for awhile but then start to run poorly. I thought carburetor and that's where I started. Eliminated that - then found the fuel pump pressed in checks were not holding, the screen was cracked, and the cork float from the tank had disintegrated and plugged everything up. Wow, that must be it right? After replacing the pump, same result. So I put a clear hose on the fuel pump inlet line. I just used some refrigerator drain hose with clamps. Bubbles, sure enough it was sucking air. Traced that back to the tank. When the tank was full it got all the gas it needed to run great. After the level dropped some there was apparently a hole in the tank pickup tube and it starved for fuel.

I bought a replacement tank from the Filling Station. Getting the gas tank filler tube set up functionally was a challenge in itself.

With the fuel bowl half full that would be one of the signs to investigate the fuel pump check valves and the tank.

The normal fuel level in the bowl is 1/2. Nevr gets completely full.

Did you get things figured out? Don't keep it a secret.