The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 57 6400 Needs Help!!

Hi everyone, I just brought home my first Stovebolt, it is a 1957 6400 stake truck with a 261, 4 speed with the two speed rear, that I found in a barn just outside of where I live. I am a college student and Ive been working on my 63.5 Galaxie for a while learning about motors and such but currently I am STUMPED. I have been going out to the barn for the last 2 months working on it trying to get it started. Oiled the cylinders, new battery, points (replaced and gapped), condenser, coil, resistor, oil change and new gas. I finally brought it home Saturday morning, It made the 20 minute drive home like it was brand new! I picked up my girlfriend who has been helping me with it and we drove it around all day. Sunday morning we get up, take it across town for breakfast and on the way home it dies. It took a good while to get it started unlike normal. As I am coming down my road just cruising in second gear it just shuts off. It's in the driveway now and I cannot get it started again. I checked spark and pulled the fuel line off the carb and turned it over to make sure there is fuel being pumped. All good. It will turn over and if it starts it will idle very rough and then just shut off. There is gas around the bottom of the carb (not much just enough to be wet) but it has always been like this. I will admit that this has exceeded my level of knowledge when it comes to these things. I don't know if this is timing issue, electrical issue, compression issue or what it is... sorry for the long post but I am completely lost and any help is extremely appreciated.

Thank you!

Did you drain out all the old fuel before you started it? Dirt in tank could have plugged the system, verify spark by laying plug across manifold hooked to ignition wire, see if spark visible.

Ed

The float in your carb may be sticking or have a leak in it causing it to close and then when the bowl empties the gas drains out of the float allowing it to restart. You can check the float by submerging it in water. If you see bubbles it's leaking

A leaking float would cause the float to sink and the needle valve to stay open and cause flooding, although it should start once the gas accumulated in the intake evaporates. But if it doesn't start right away, the fuel pump would cause the gas level in the carb to be too high and either flood the engine or at least cause it to run really rich.
The check for a leaking float is usually just pull it out and shake it to listen for the gas sloshing around inside. Later Chevys used phenolic carb floats that would absorb gas and sink. Pretty common problem with those, and harder to diagnose.
It is worth checking the float and possibly rebuild the carburetor if it's leaking around the base. That could cause a vacuum leak while running and a lean condition.