kep1113

Hi everyone, after a long while I'm happy to report that my son's Buick is alive and well. I wish I could report back on what the exact problem was, but we wound up putting it in a shop that does a lot of work on old cars and they found many things that were contributing to the problems. I think the primary thing was they knew how to properly adjust the carburetor and we didn't! After the hesitation issue was corrected, it began cutting off after a few minutes of driving. Replacing distributor components and the proper installation of an electric fuel pump solved those issues. So, I have one more question..... is there a relatively easy way to fix an exhaust manifold leak? It's not a leaky gasket, but a very small hole in the manifold itself. We've tried two-part epoxy "steel" products, but they can't take the heat. Do we have to remove the manifold and take it to a shop? Thanks again for all the replies!

Here are some follow up pictures to my earlier post about the hole in the side of the carb. In the first picture, the large hole near the top is where the pump arm and metering rod arm are located. I assume this is OK to be open since the cover that goes on top of this assembly is simply titled "Dust Cover". The other hole toward the middle is the one I was wondering about earlier. After further reading, it sound like this may be an air bleed to prevent suction in the carb from pulling out gas that is in the accelerator pump assembly. Apparently there is one on each side of the carb..... which leads to the second picture. The same hole on this side appears to be plugged! I've looked through all the literature I can find but nothing seems to help. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!!

Not yet. Been busy with the holidays, but will be looking into it again soon.

We finally had a chance to do a little more investigation into the hesitation issue. We hooked up the Halloween fog machine to the vacuum port on the manifold and discovered some leakage from around a few of the carb hold-down bolts, so I guess the gasket is shot. We also saw smoke coming out of this hole in the side of the carburetor (see pic, the hole between and below the two screws holding the top half to the bottom). The Carter WGD diagrams don't really help much in terms of identifying what this hole is for, but I assume it is supposed to be plugged, right? Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks again!!

Thanks for all the input... it is greatly appreciated. I don't think we've investigated the lubrication of the vacuum advance so that might be an issue. One more question (for now). I'm pretty sure the idle speed is in the ballpark of where it should be, but when he shifts from park to reverse the shift is so abrupt that it makes the tires "bark". That can't be good, right? Do you think this is simply a symptom of 61 year old transmission that probably needs to be rebuilt?

Is the fuel pressure gauge something I can get at any auto parts store? Will double-check the carb mounting bolts. Here's a quick pic of the proud owner. According to the plate under the hood, it was originally grey & white.

Thanks for the responses. I don't think the fuel pressure is too high. We installed a clear fuel filter just before the carb and the pump keeps fuel flowing but not enough to completely fill the filter while the engine is running. As for the fuel itself, that could be an issue. We do have access to non-ethanol gasoline, but I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. We will try leaning out the carburetors and see what happens. By the way, my son just turned 16 and this is his first car so he's learning a lot... as am I. I appreciate any input we can get. I did a broad Google search on the issue, but got only questions about late model Buicks, so that wasn't much help. Fortunately, we have a 1956 shop manual which helps immensely, but obviously it can't address every issue. I was going to insert a picture but I don't have one handy. Will do it soon. Thanks again.

Hello everyone, my son recently acquired a 1956 Buick Special, 322 V-8. It is still very warm here in Florida and we were battling vapor lock issues, so we bypassed the stock mechanical fuel pump, installed an electric pump, and that seems to have resolved that problem. The car seems to run fine as it is warming up. However, when it is fully warmed up it begins hesitating when accelerating from a stop. He has to "butterfly" the accelerator pedal (maybe that's not the right term, but you probably know what I mean!). The original Carter carburetor was rebuilt and the accelerator pump appears to be working as it should - when the pedal is pressed there are two jets of gas pumped into the carb throat. Has anyone else experienced this issue? Thanks!!