I just bought 1949 Cadillac 62 series sedan but I'm having some trouble with it stalling when I give her some gas. When the engine is cold it won't start at all and requires a small shot of ether. After that it'll idle just fine. Rev the engine though and it sounds like it's flooding out and tries to stall. Any clues as to what might be the problem here?

Also my other question. The air filter on this car is originally a oil filled, for the lack of better words, "bowl" with a twine looking filter. Obviously there are safer and cleaner solutions today. Can anyone point me towards something I can use as a replacement. I don't really like the ideal of a oil bowl sloshing around in there.

Thanks!

From your symptoms and the fact that ether starts the car your problem points to fuel delivery. Here are a few things that I would check (not necessarily in this order):

1.) How old is the fuel? If old, drain the tank and replace with fresh fuel.
2.) What kind of fuel are you using? Is it high in ethanol content? If so, drain and replace with a few gallons of leaded racing fuel and see if your problems go away.
3.) Are you running only the mechanical fuel pump? Temporarily put in a 6V electric pump and see if your problems go away.
4.) Check for a plugged fuel filter. If dirty, check for debris in the tank.
5.) Check to see if you have debris or varnish in the carb. check float setting. check needle valve operation.
6.) If none of the above works, put the car on an engine analyzer like a Sun or Allen Tester and run through the systems.

My '53 Series 62 has the oil bath air cleaner and have never had any problems with it. Why do you find yours to be a nuisance or hazard?

Sorry about the slow response too many websites to explorer for a new classic car owner looking for a online home.

Not sure about the fuel the Gent I bought it off of was a hobby restorer that had to sell the car off. I know he was doing some minor work on it prior to selling it. Right now it's nearly out of gas and as soon as I can get this master cylinder rebuilt I can drive it down to the station and fill it up with some regular plus some lead additive.

The fuel pump seems to be pumping fine but I need to find a a way to test the pressure on it. The fuel filters all look nice and clean from the previous owner replacing them so I can't see any indications of rust in there.

I've been working on getting the fuel mixture back into the correct ratio but following tech data from 1949 is mechanically limiting. I'll tear the carb apart and look for any problems.

Far as the air filter I just don't like a bowl of oil over a engine I plan on scrubbing clean. If I keep it what oil and weight should I use there?

Thanks!

-Dory