The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 engine bogs and no acceleration now

So I got the engine running so the '41 pick-up I swapped it into was drivable. I took it for a drive about six miles and at first it wanted to die at idle but it had good acceleration for about three miles, then it wouldn't accelerate at all for the rest of the drive. It ran out of gas at about a mile or so and was re-fueled, if that matters. I re-set the timing the next day just in case it could have been off and then took it out again and barely made it around the block.

To me it seems like something is amiss in the Carter W-1 carburetor I have on it because when I press down on the gas pedal there is a loud hissing sound coming from it and it sounds like the air cleaner is shaking. I don't know if this carburetor is even worth using on this engine given that it originally had a Rochester 1 bbl. on it that was 15 years newer. (I switched back to the Carter because I had to use the 216 intake/exhaust manifold to fit the engine in the truck.)

My questions would be: 1) Does it in fact sound like something is wrong with the carb, and 2) If so does it even pay to spend any more time on this carb as it's already been re-built. I personally can't get excited about this clunky old carb any more, especially since it never came stock on a 1956 235 engine like I have. Unless someone chimes in here and tells me there is something simple going on I'm thinking I should cut my losses and go with the Rochester carb.

Sucked something into carb/fuel pump when the tank ran dry?

Buy the new carb send me the old no good useless piece of [censored]... The new carb will clear all the crap out of the lines when its installed cause they have nanocleaners built onto them now!

Or maybe his 235 is bad. I will come to his house and dispose of it for him. Seriously, it sounds like debris in the fuel system. I would start with draining the tank and check for trash, then move downstream from there through the fuel delivery system. A brand new carb won't work if more trash moves downstream and enters it.

The truck has a glass bowl fuel filter just ahead of the carb so wouldn't any junk in the system show up in there (which it isn't)?
Also, the truck has a new tank and new fuel lines. I'm wondering if rust inside one of the passages in the carb could have broken loose and clogged something up since the Carter W-1 carbs are mostly made of cast iron, or maybe some other debris not cleaned out in the rebuilding process.

Come on... just cause you eliminate all the other reasons for junk in the carb and made a good guess as to where the problem lies (even if it's not rust)doesn't mean you don't still NEED the new carb so you can send me that one

go get you a 2 barrel from langfords....

The symptoms you describe sounds more like a timing issue than carburetor. You mention resetting the timing, what did you set it at? You may need to advance it over the stock setting, as the ethanol fuel we have these days needs more advance than the fuel that the older vehicles were designed to run on originally. You should also check both the vacuum and mechanical advance mechanisms to be certain they are working properly.
On the carb side of things, check for vacuum leaks. You may also want to go back to the larger 325 intake and carb, though I don't believe that's what is causing the problem.

Have you checked the points setting yet?

I need to re-check the points setting. Thanks for reminding me. I just set the timing at the stock setting at a slow idle. I don't know what the RPM was becauseI don't have an external tach gauge but it was pretty slow.