1948 Chrysler Town and Country Woody - Help me troubleshoot please

A beauty right? It has been reliable as long as I have had it and usually starts right up. Now for some reason at this point I am unable to get it to start. Between the time it worked and stopped starting I had changed nothing. It had sat for a couple months due to business travel and it being winter. I have tried to troubleshoot it with my limited car knowledge:

It has fresh gas, and new spark plugs now.

I have checked for loose connections in the distributor wires and did not seem to find any.

I have tested and it looks like all 8 cylinders are getting spark. Battery is on a charger when I try to crank it.

It seems as if the carburetor is getting good gas flow. The carburetor itself is in pristine new condition and everything moves freely.

At this point I am not sure what to do. Obviously the more things I take apart the more things that might contribute to it not working..so I am stopping for now until I get help.

Attached is a video showing 50 seconds of me trying to get it to start. Notice at the end in the last 10 seconds it sputters and the carburetor sends up a puff of white smoke. That is the most action I get.

If any of you professionals need any additional data, photos or vids please let me know how I can make this easier to troubleshoot.

Also I am certainly not too proud to have someone come out and show me how to work on and maintain old cars. If you know of anyone who is a mechanic in the Philadelphia area and has experience with cars from 1945-1970, i would be happy to pay them for their time if they are looking for some side work.

1. Where are you located? (It'd be tough for someone to come over and help if they live thousands of miles away)

2. Manual or auto choke? (If auto, is it working correctly?)

3. It sounds too lean to me (getting fuel, but not enough). To prove that, spray about three seconds worth of carb cleaner into the carburetor, then crank. It should start and run smoothly for a few seconds at least. If it DOES run on the cleaner, you aren't getting enough fuel (could be a plugged tank pickup, kinked line, dirty fuel filter, crap in a carb jet, weak fuel pump, etc.) If it Doesn't run on the cleaner, its time to check for spark and/or timing issues (you are definitely getting some spark, so I'm betting on a choke or fuel issue). Good luck!

PS: Beautiful car!

Thank you for your reply! I am in the Philadelphia area.

It is an auto choke, I believe it is working correctly...but I will double check. If it was not, I should be able to manually manipulate it enough to at least start the car right?

It does get fuel, I see and hear it in the carb when I pull the throttle while under the hood. Unfortunately I am not sure what enough and not enough looks like. I will try the carb cleaner!

Thanks for the help!

Already answered in the other thread.

Sent you a private message.

Joe

hfbrodie: Are you making any progress with the old girl?