WPVT

Some background would be helpful. Was the car in storage or sitting unused for a long period ?

I would second the priming suggestion. In my experience, often the fuel pump is capable of supplying fuel when the engine is running, but sometimes not good enough to pump at starter speeds. You don't realize this normally, because the fuel bowl in the carb usually has fuel in it, and that is enough to start the engine. If the car sits, or runs dry, or if it is turned over repeatedly without success, then the bowl may be empty. A quick check is to have someone pump the accelerator while you look into the carb (engine not running). If you see or hear gas squirting, then you have gas. If you don't, the bowl is empty (or your accelerator pump doesn't work. If you disconnect the fuel inlet at the carb, and use a squeeze bottle (like they use for ketchup) to inject gas into the bowl, then you can either start the engine, or eliminate lack of fuel as the problem.

I found this article about capacitor failure to be pretty interesting. https://nonlintec.com/sprite/cap_failure/

I'm curious to hear what happens. In looking for some component that could operate intermittently, electrical components seem more likely than mechanical components. I've never heard of simply disconnecting the capacitor as a troubleshooting technique, but it seems plausible. I did 10 minutes of research and came up with an interesting article chronicling the disassembly and testing of several capacitors, good and bad. Turns out that most capacitors are very cheaply made, and therefore prone to failure. The failure doesn't show up as a short or lack of capacitance, but as high voltage internal arcing due to poor construction. No wonder we've always been taught to replace them along with the points.

You're taking a good, logical, cautious approach. There is likely one thing causing this problem, not six. I am not an ignition expert, but wouldn't the capacitance value on a V-8 capacitor be different from that on a 4 cylinder ? Here's a suggestion that may be totally off the wall....I was always taught that the purpose of the capacitor was to help avoid having the points get pitted. Try running without the capacitor and see how it runs. I believe an engine will run better without one than with a bad one or the wrong one. (But maybe I'm wrong )

You've probably already replaced the condensor. If not, it may be worth trying. A bad one can cause some pretty mystifying symptoms, much like what you've described.

I bought a 3 ton Arcan aluminum floor jack from Amazon a few years ago, and haven't regretted it. Very well made, heavy duty, and moves around the floor well. Expensive, but worth it. And always use jack stands. Never rely on a jack to hold a vehicle up.

Good luck with your work on this car. Your questions are clear and specific, and show that you are proceeding carefully and logically.

Reinforced rubber truck mudflaps are another easily available source.

If points are set correctly and it still won't run, try using the old cap on the new distributor. I've had a cap go bad with no visible defect.

I agree with c49er. The car was running before, but probably not as well as it should. It no doubt has a number of things that need attention, but the problem at present is that it won't start. A few shots of starting fluid sprayed down the carburetor, along with a fully charged battery, should get some results. It's usually not a good idea to start tearing things apart, or readjusting components when the engine won't start. Unless you are a skilled mechanic, that only adds to the number of things that could be wrong. You've got an old, poorly tuned car with a nearly dead battery. Get it running, then start addressing issues needing work one by one. First off, after you have it running, buy a new battery, and look into having beefier battery cables installed. And hats off to you for driving a great old car.

I agree. The 216 is about as simple as an engine can get. There just aren't any mysteries. Pulling an engine because you don't understand what's wrong with it is questionable.

So analogous to a compressed air tank....a 50 gallon tank with 100psi or a 5 gallon tank with 100psi ?

I'm quite sure it's original. The truck was never used all that much and everything is pretty much as it was delivered, with the exception of the carburetor.

Got it. Thanks again Ed.

Thanks Ed. The first thing I did when I bought the truck was to disconnect and remove an electric fuel pump and get the vacuum tank functioning again. That involved changing jets on the carb to accomodate the significant pressure difference between the pump and gravity. Eventually I got it right. If I disconnect the wiper hose from the vacuum tank, and connect it to the manifold instead, I'd probably do it at the same fitting on the manifold that the vacuum tank uses. So would I be accomplishing anything ?

I seem to recall that when you manually fill the vacuum tank with fuel, that at some point there should be a "click" where a float causes a spring loaded valve to close. That would be an indication that the innards of the tank are working. Am I remembering correctly ?

I just started the truck up for the first time in quite a while. The first step is always to prime the vacuum pump, which I did, and the engine started right up. The difference this time is that the vacuum tank didn't refill on its own. I primed it again with about a quart of fuel, with the same result. The tank is in very nice shape and it was rebuilt a little while ago, so the only problem is that it has been sitting idle. Is there something I can do short of opening it up ? Letting it sit for a week filled with fuel ? Giving it a hammer tap ? Secondly, it has a small mesh filter at the inlet that occasionally collects small particles. I removed the fitting and checked that out to see if that was the problem. It wasn't, but I am wondering if that is an original filter or someone's add-on. It's a nuisance location for a fllter since it requires removing and then replacing an elbow with a pipe thread. I've thought of eliminating that and installing a sediment bowl between the gas tank and the vacuum pump, but their isn't enough room between the pump and the firewall. Is there usually a filter preceding the vacuum pump ?

Thanks. The height been the same since 1929, but your point about the filters is quite valid. They both have the "stone" type filter elements. I can't quite figure out why there would be two. Maybe a good first step would be to remove the filter elements from the bowls, and see what happpens. Gravity feed doesn't produce much pressure to push fuel through a filter.

It's been a while since I've run this truck, so today I took some time to revisit the fuel system. I hadn't noticed before, but when the engine is running, the fuel level in the sediment bowl directly preceding the carb is only about 3/4", less than I'd expect. When I shut the engine down, the level rises about another inch. So this is what I am thinking.... The fuel delivery must be barely keeping up with the demand, hence the level rises only once demand stops. That means that the inlet valve in the carb is open all the time the engine is running, and only closes when the engine stops, then allowing the fuel level in the sediment bowl to rise. If fuel delivery to the sediment bowl is only just barely adequate, then something must be up with the supply. I know that the vacuum tank could have some issues, although it was rebuilt and was working fine last year. I filled it with about a quart of fuel for this experiment, so that it's operation wouldn't be a factor. Is there something in the tank that would limit fuel gravity feeding to the sediment bowl ? Actually there are two bowls, one under the vacuum tank and one just before the carb, so I suppose that the first bowl/filter could be limiting flow to the second. Since I am relying on gravity feed fuel supply, is two sediment bowl filters in the supply line too many ?

Thanks. The problem is not major, and I suspect that there may not even be a mechanical problem. I'd like to adjust the governor the way it was intended and designed, and what little information I've found is not written well enough to be useful. I've got it so that it does pretty much what it was intended to do, though, and the engine runs OK. One of the basic questions has to do with idle speed. The governor has two levers, and a small linkage arm. One lever connects to the accelerator, and the other to the carburetor. It's the governor's job to "mediate" between the two. The governor doesn't even operate until about 1200 rpm. What is a little puzzling, is how to get the engine to idle about 800 rpm, and the answer lies somewhere in the relationship between all of the different parts. I won't give up until I really understand how it all works, but until then I've got a pretty high idle, which isn't the end of the world. If there was somebody who really undetstood this specific governor, they might know. Otherwise, I'll just stick with it until I figure it out. Thanks for responding.

I am working on a Hercules two cylinder air cooled engine in a 70's era military vehicle. My question is related to the Pierce governor that was used on these engines. I am wondering if anyone reading this has expertise on these governors. Adjustment directions from that era aren't quite clear, but it is clear from more contemporary Pierce manuals that the governor's function and adjustment is often misunderstood. I am slowly getting some clarity, but if someone really knows their stuff, I'd love to hear from them. PS In the attached photo, the governor is located lower left. Look familiar to anyone ?

I recall reading a short article in Popular Mechanics from during gas rationing days, about running a car on kerosene instead of gas. To preheat the kerosene, they wrapped the fuel line around the exhaust manifold a few times. I've had to retard the timing on my flat head Dodge quite a bit to reduce engine noise, assuming that the culprit was high octane gas. I wonder if the gas/kero mix would help with that.

I never experienced truly clean glass until I started using cotton flannel rags after I had gotten the glass "clean" and allowed it to dry. Once you get the right lighting to see the streaks, the flannel can be used to dry rub the streaks away. Basically a polishing step, not cleaning, but it certainly works well.

I have a catalog from the Defiance Machine Works. They made an extensive line of woodworking machinery for building rail cars, wagons, etc. It's great to see that some of it avoided the scrap drives.