Actually, it starts just fine first thing in the morning, I give it a bit of choke and twist the key without stepping on the gas and it fires right up. The problem comes when it is warmed up and I turn it off for awhile. If I start it back up within say 5 minutes of shutting it down, it will fire right back up with no gas and a blip of the key. But if I wait longer, around 15 minutes or so, the thing is loaded up and will only start if I crank on it with my foot to the floor. I think some gas is trickling down into the motor over time and flooding it out, but overnight the gas evaps enough to clear it out. What the heck could cause this? I just rebuilt the carb, by the way. Thanks for any insights. -WG

 

Sounds like one of your floats is set too high. It raises up and shut off the fuel flow, but not until the bowl level is as high as the top of the booster venturi/air bleed housing. Fuel can seep from there. It's only push fit in. It would take a while to dribble out.

Check the site glasses- one on each side of the carb. Fuel level should be right in the middle. They went through alot of trouble to install those sight glasses, and they seem to be the most best kept secret in carb problem diagnosis!


-You may need a mirror to see the side near the firewall.

If this is the case, then the little tab on the float hinge that makes contact with the button on the bottom of the needle is bent, and needs to be unbent. Holding the top of the carb upside down, the tops of the floats should measure 9/16ths inch to the gasket.

But if the site glasses indicate halfway, then there's something else. Check them with the car ideling.

Let us know.

 

Mine does that too. It's a flooding problem. Usually cause by incorrect float adjustment or float valve needles that don't seat good. You can try running a few tanks with ccarb cleaner mixed in.

Also, your hot start assist may be wacked or not functioning. I went and adjusted mine and it starts a little better but still takes 4 secs of crank with an annoying puff of smoke.

 

Thanks a bunch for the responses.
I set the float levels when I rebuilt the carb, but that's not to say it is necessarily correct. The front looks right, but I'll check the rear float level in the sight glass using a mirror as suggested. I suspect the needle and seats may also be leaking as I re-used the old needle and seats as they appeared to be in good condition. I do have new needle and seat assemblys I could install, so at least I can eliminate that possibility. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks again. -Mike