56 Buick

Excellent, thank you.

Thanks to you both. I will ditch the grease and go with the permatex.

Thanks John. Mating surfaces were clean. I can try the permatex. Was it the permatex blue or permatex ultra blue?

Hi all I recently replaced the water pump on the 56 Buick and also replaced all gaskets on the water manifold crossover. The issue is that bottom rubber seal between the crossover and the timing cover continues to weep. I can see coolant collecting on top of the timing cover. I have had 2 goes at pulling the crossover off again and attempting to stop the weep. What am I doing wrong? The only thing I can think is I have been putting rubber grease on the seal to assist with the crossover fitting into the timing cover and instead I should leave the rubber seal naked. Could I try adding the GM coolant system seal tablets? If anyone has some helpful ideas that would be much appreciated. Thanks Drew

Just asking: is it the mesh hood vent that was used in the early cars? I recall someone saying the hood vent was changed to solid fill to avoid rain and kicked up water on the road passing thtough the hood vent into the engine bay/oil bath air filter?

Thanks. I had heard it is often the fuel boiling away down near the mechanical fuel pump but I will give it a try and see if it starts.

Thanks, will try this.

So how do you get the car to start in this circumstance? After the car has been driven and the engine will not start again, I have always had to wait until the engine cools down after which it then will. But I have only ever assumed it was vapour lock and not tried much else.

Thanks. I will connect a vacuum pump and see if the distributor plates moves. Is the plate supposed to move and hold at the advanced position or will it rather be momentarily?

Hi all, I hear you re possible issues with the fuel delivery system and I will check as suggested. I have never continued to crank the engine for 30 seconds or more as I have been concerned with the battery and straining the starting circuit but I can also try and see. However, another reason for the priming pump was to counter the vapour lock that can occur. The car can be difficult to start again while hot after a drive. Gary's link above to his work and write up is really great and informative. Thanks to all.

Hi, I am looking at fitting a low pressure fuel pump to prime the fuel bowls. Unfortunately when the car has sat for over a week, it is impossible to start the engine. It appears the fuel evaporates and the mechanical pump just can't move the fuel. I am still going to use the mechanical pump to run the engine after it starts so this electric pump will just run for a few seconds to prime the carb. The electric pump will need to be a pump where the mechanical pump can pull fuel through even when the electric pump is not running. Also, it will only need to be a low 2-3 psi pump, that way no regulator should be needed. I am interested to see if anyone has dome something similar? If so then what parts did you use and were there any issues encountered? Thanks Drew

I am certainly carrying a spare now. I did end up removing the carbon rod from the distributor rotor given its resistance was extreme and replaced it with a length of aluminium rod that I set in place with a small amount of epoxy.

Hi all, just an update. Turns out it was the coil. Using a replacement the car runs fine. It was correct that despite the coil measuring to spec, the coil was faulty and not providing regular/strong spark. Thanks to all for your assistance.

True but I recall that when I removed the crash pad on my car, I did require a 2nd person to assist in getting the crash pad away. It required some flexing and manipulation by someone as the other pulled. But certainly does make things easier to work on.

Yes, that is the ballast resistor in the primary ignition circuit. I have never noticed it to be hot though. As you suggest it may be due to the battery charging but I have no idea why that would occur. Perhaps others will have a more informed view than me.