Owen Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Damn, both those stories are scary. I came close to that this weekend as I discovered the rail that joins my two fuel rails was leaking...tightened that sucker up in a hurry! "if that was the carb on fire, can i just buy a FI and put it on and go along my merry way?" You'd need an EFI fuel pump and filter at least, then the fuel lines and fittings too. Plus a regulator and a return line. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Oh boy... forget about FI, that's a lot of work and you need to know what you are doing. First off, keep the air cleaner housing off, since it's burnt anyways. with engine cool, sit inside and pump the gas peddle 2 times and try to start the car. If nothing happens, try keeping the peddle down while starting. If nothing, stop. You probably blew the accelerator pump in the carb. You need to rebuild the carb. If I were you I would bring the carb to a mechanic and watch him rebuild it,too learn how. Or you could bring it to an auto parts store for a replacment. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 "keep the air cleaner housing off, since it's burnt anyways. with engine cool, sit inside and pump the gas peddle 2 times and try to start the car" Can't say I'd try firing up my ride without a fire resistant air filter in place securely. The only time I did that was when I was sorting out some carb & timing hiccups and gas shot up out of my carb . Nothing resulted but I've always made it habit to start my ride with air filter in place. I'll remove it while running to tune/alter/check items, but its always in place for startup prior to all of my tuning being nailed down. Just my .02c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 *giggle* With my timing "issues" I had a few blasts of flame too. I was on th epassenger side working the solenoid with a jumper wire and the driver's side throttle linkage with my other hand. Needless to say I lost the fur on a portion of my arm after one such ball of flame Also, if it's just flame in the open carb I've found that cranking the engine can often put it out - just don't pump the gas (ahem). I hate carbs but imagine the joy of a fuel leak on a 40+PSI fuel line! A pinhole can stream gas several FEET! Ask me sometime how I felt about an "additional injector" popping off on the Mustang twice while cranking - on a cold engine thank god. Hence my purchase of a DFI and the removal of that piece of junk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BadKarmaCreepin Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 ok, so i by a new filter and some carb cleaner and go to try and salvage my baby. i put the choke on to start it, turn it, and it starts. but within 20 seconds, gas overflows out of the forward barrels and all over the block. i may be wrong, but i thought this was no good. it stalled by itself, and i cleaned up the gas. tried it again without the choke, and immediately gas overflowed again. so i gave up, thinking i might blow my self up. what's the problem here? someone said it might be the accelerator pump, and the same person said that might be why the car stalls when i slam 5th gear when i'm cruising at 30-35 mph. is this correct, or is there another problem. any kind of clues as to what the problem is would be great, also, how much the parts are to replace/repair. thanks. oh yeah, BTW: i can see burnt filter pieces in the rear carb barrels. is this no good? should i just have it towed somewhere so they can fix it? i figure while it's there, i can find out everything else that's wrong with it. [ August 27, 2001: Message edited by: BadKarmaCreepin ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 I would ask around for a mechanic who still likes hot rod type projects(most mechanics started out liking cars and hot rods, but after working on POS cars for 15-20 years they have decided that they pretty much hate them). If I had your car, I would rebuild or replace the carb, give the engine a full tune-up(check timing with a light, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, air filter, fuel filter, etc...). Like most people, I have a friend(yeah, I know, only one) who knows everything, sometimes I call him so I can have an intellegent conversation about cars. If I'm at a loss with the answer, we together can figure it out. What I'm saying is get a freind that knows about Hot Rods. Hang out at SPEED shops(not local Yo-Boy sticker and muffler vendors). You've got a bonafied Hot Rod now. If you know were the '69 Camaros and big block Chevelles(follow the smell of leaded race gas) lurk in you area, then you on the right track. Good Luck Jamie Deathstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 What fuel pump are you using? It almost sounds like you either have a stuck front float, or your putting to much pressure on the needle valve and its just pumping gas in unrestricted. Might need a regulator if thats the case. Carb motors don't need the same fuel pressure as fuely motors. I'd rather have a fuel leak in a carb'd car than in a fuel injection car... (although I'd prefer a fire in neither as would most people...) Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Mikelly, remember the Mount Vesuvius imitation my Holley carb did soon after startup? A little piece of crud got in the needle and seat and the needle stuck opened. Easy to pull out, just remove the screw that locks the needle height adjusting nut on the carb bowl and back the nut out until the seat/needle assembly is no longer threaded into the bowl. Lift the needle and seat assembly and inspect/clean. No more than 7 psi to the carb also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BadKarmaCreepin Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 what does it mean when the engine catches on fire? i had it running 15 minutes prior to this happening. when i tried to restart it, i just kept trying to turn it over while hitting the gas, as recommended. so after 5 minutes of this not working, i lifted the hood and found the intake on fire. so i went to find something to put it out with, and came back with a dish rag (only thing available, i was in a storage building)only to find the whole thing on fire now. so i unscrewed the intake, took it off, and found the part underneath(the carb maybe?) looking like the olympic torch. that was completely charred, and the filter, uhhhh, well it doesn't exist anymore. WTF just happened here?? and what's broken and what can be fixed? if that was the carb on fire, can i just buy a FI and put it on and go along my merry way? this whole carb thing is pissing me off. it can't be that expensive to use technology from at least LAST decade....anyone with any suggestions, please help. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tht1KSguy Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Well Bad... if i had to guess i'd say with all of your pumping the gas (which everytime squirts raw fuel into the intake via the accelerator pump) you probably got a backfire up through the intake and that lit up your roman candle. Luckily it didn't burn the whole car to the ground. Reminds me of when i was 14 trying to get my Chevy Monza to start after a fuel pump replacement. Couldn't get fuel to the carb so i thought i'd help it a bit.. via a 5gal gas can... almost full well long story short i poured some down the carb and my friend cranked away. Bad idea... the can slipped and poured a bunch in... backfire up through the carb with the butterflies open made for a 6ft flame thrower (the hood was off) i jumped away quickly enough to just lose most of my eyebrows. Mom wasn't impressed. But, once again i survived.. now as long as this project doesn't try to kill me off i figure i'm in the clear for awhile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Something that has been missed in all of this... Check your dipstick for a smell of gasoline immediately. If you pumped the pedal that much, most likely you have added a bit to your oil pan. This will hurt your rings and your bearings if you run the motor with a bunch of gas in the oil... What I recommend is that you check for this, and if you have evidence of gas in your oil, I'd strongly recommend not starting that motor until you do the following: A: Change the oil and the filter B: Pull the plugs C: Pull the coil wire from the dizzy D: Crank the motor repeatedly to blow any additional gas out of the cylinders E: Add a few Small drops of oil into each cylinder to help the rings re-lube/ seal F: Re-install the plugs and replace them if they were fouled. G: Replace the coil wire H: Take Ross' advice and buy a fire retardant filter and put it on I: Check the carb as it may have a stuck float J: Restart the car remotely with a starter switch that you can buy at any parts store. This will put you outside of the car where you can see if the carb is hanging up and flooding the motor. The reason togo through all these steps is to avoid washing the rings down so much so that you loose way to much compression in that motor. After having this happen on me several times I lost 10% on my leak down numbers from what the motor previously had shown. Gas is the rings worst enemy... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 30, 2001 Share Posted August 30, 2001 Didn't read them all but Edelbrok and holly have multi port conversions for about 3-4k. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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