Aaron65

That'll be a fun car to drive around...Glad you got to save it...Twice!

Most often: "Did you do it yourself?" Once, when I was driving the '53, an older guy asked, without a hint of irony, if I bought it new. I'm 35 years old.

That Buick's still there...I've passed it a few times, the most recent being this summer.

TG, is that '57 Buick outside of Ishpeming???

Hey Phil... First, hotter plugs won't help, and they could damage your engine by acting as "glow plugs" at higher speeds. They don't fire hotter, they just retain heat to keep them from fouling, and I don't think that's for just on start up, more for an engine that fouls them while running. My '53 has always started hard hot, largely due to the non-carburetor friendly gas we now have, but also due to the fact that there's a 600* exhaust manifold underneath it. I maintain a mechanical fuel pump, but I also have a 7/16" spacer from Bob's Automobilia, and I made a fuel return. By using one of those bypass fuel filters, I ran a return line to the filler neck, but I think the tank would be better if you could make it happen. I also stretched the exhaust valve body spring so it was always closed. I don't drive it in freezing weather, so I just have to put up with it being a little bit stubborn for the first half mile or so most of the time...basically I can't get on the gas quick or it will want to stall for a bit. Finally, there are two schools of thought for starting the engine hot. The first is to just touch the starter and not push down far on the gas pedal at all. I found that mine personally likes the owner's manual advice for a flooded engine...pushed and held all the way to the floor (no pumping). With the fuel bypass, mine now starts hot most of the time within a couple of seconds. Even so, I still get a raw fuel smell and a little black smoke most of the time. I think it's just the nature of the beast, but I haven't tried an electric fuel pump or anything either. Good luck!

By all means, check out all the tune up items first. I can run my timing light on 6V, but my dialback light won't work, so I just hook the inductive "clamp" to cylinder #1, and then power the light from a spare 12V battery. Make sure the vacuum advance is working and the mechanical advance in the distributor is free. With all that being said...these things are slow by any standard. Mine would be lucky to get to 60 in under 20 seconds...Surprisingly, you get used to it, and it will keep up with city traffic just fine, but you use a lot of pedal, and gas mileage gets even worse. I tell people that it's really slow, but at least I get bad gas mileage. Overall, expect around 10 MPG if you use 10% Ethanol (which is pretty much all we have around here).

Nothing really to add, except you are going to be road tripping in my favorite car ever, and I'm really jealous. Good luck!

What a drag...I visited the museum probably once a year.

Kind of makes you wonder how many old cars are running around with a similar problem...

Not really...I tried two leather pumps from carb rebuild kits. They're just not quite expanded enough out of the box to make a good seal in the pump bore, or so it seems. Kind of a weird deal, but I'm glad it works! You learn something new every day!

I linked to another conversation that explains...click on the link.

http://forums.aaca.org/f120/afb-accelerator-pump-not-pumping-engine-340068.html Problem solved...thanks to all.

Roger, you are an amazing genius and I owe you all the thanks in the world! That's all it was...I now have pump shot every time. Thanks for sharing your experience! And thanks to NTX and Jon for bearing with me...

Since the well's not filling properly, adjusting it further down the bore gets the plunger closer to the fuel level. Robert--She's pulling on all 8, and the vacuum is steady. Now my Mustang is currently running on about 5 and a half, but that's another story...

I think we're at the improbable problem stage. It works great on the bench, so I know there are no blockages. However, as soon as the engine's running and I work the throttle, nothing. If I disconnect the throttle rod and work the pump manually, I can get a shot but I can tell the well doesn't refill correctly because I can feel the fuel level in the well go down every time I work the throttle. I won't take a giant whack with a hammer and punch...just a couple light taps.

Hey David, The car's idling and running great, but there's no pump shot with it running. It does have a leather pump, and I've tried two of them. I tested the floats this past summer by holding them underwater when I went through the carb. I didn't notice the bog so much when it was warmer out, but now that it's chilly, it's quite evident.

Thanks for the great ideas! I have a short spacer I can try in place of the stack, but I always just snug down carbs by using my hand on the top of a ratchet. That doesn't mean they won't crack! The thing that's turned a light on in my head is using the punch to seat the pump check ball (or in my case a needle). That was one of the things I was wondering...was the circuit sucking air in from that area. More to come, eventually. Thanks again!

Thanks for replying Jon! 1. I'm using a brass-looking pump discharge needle that's of reasonable size, but I'm not sure what the original size one looks like. The current couple I've tried either came with the carburetor or in the Car Quest rebuild kit I used last. No discharge ball, just the needle. 2. The lack of discharge occurs even with a cold engine. I'm using a replacement pump that likely doesn't have the check ball. I'm using a sandwiched aluminum/gasket/aluminum/gasket flange gasket setup by Mr. Gasket that insulates the carb somewhat from any heat from the engine. The car doesn't have a heat riser anymore, but the passages aren't blocked off either, so the gasket does get sooty. The car never has a vacuum leak, however. 3. The pump I'm using is leather (I've tried two).

I copied this from over at V8buick.com and the Buick forum here to see if there are any AFB guys who can give me a hand here...I had this thing apart four times yesterday...it's relating to my '65 Skylark... All right, this is getting dumb. Basically, when the engine's running, I have no pump shot. If I put it on the bench, it's fine. Here's what I've done... 1. Replaced the inlet check valve. It didn't seem to work well without it. 2. Raised the driver's side float about 1/32", even though it was at spec, just to make sure the well filled. It should fill through the check valve though. 3. I found a couple of float seats that had larger orifices in them, in case the car was dropping the float level too much running (grasping for straws here). 4. I adjusted the pump so it started down in the well as far as I could. 5. The fuel pump has 6-7 lbs. of pressure to the carb. 6. The gas is way down in the pump well. I checked the pump discharge needle and it seemed OK, but I'm wondering if it's maybe sucking air. EDIT: I replaced the needle and there's no change. The pump just won't shoot with the engine running (or at least it's very weak and sporadic). I'm just about out of ideas here. Maybe the carb has some kind of internal vacuum leak where it's sucking air in the pump system...Any ideas? OR...anybody have a good 3826S core they could sell me? This thing's never run quite right with the current carb. It came with an Edelbrock, but the switch pitch doesn't match up to that thing very well.

I copied this from over at V8buick.com to see if there are any AFB guys who can give me a hand here...I had this thing apart four times yesterday. All right, this is getting dumb. Basically, when the engine's running, I have no pump shot. If I put it on the bench, it's fine. Here's what I've done... 1. Replaced the inlet check valve. It didn't seem to work well without it. 2. Raised the driver's side float about 1/32", even though it was at spec, just to make sure the well filled. It should fill through the check valve though. 3. I found a couple of float seats that had larger orifices in them, in case the car was dropping the float level too much running (grasping for straws here). 4. I adjusted the pump so it started down in the well as far as I could. 5. The fuel pump has 6-7 lbs. of pressure to the carb. 6. The gas is way down in the pump well. I checked the pump discharge needle and it seemed OK, but I'm wondering if it's maybe sucking air. EDIT: I replaced the needle and there's no change. The pump just won't shoot with the engine running (or at least it's very weak and sporadic). I'm just about out of ideas here. Maybe the carb has some kind of internal vacuum leak where it's sucking air in the pump system...Any ideas? OR...anybody have a good 3826S core they could sell me? This thing's never run quite right with the current carb. It came with an Edelbrock, but the switch pitch doesn't match up to that thing very well.

Drove the '53 around today quite a bit. Took the Skylark for a few rides and had the carb off and apart 4 times. The accelerator pump isn't working with the engine running...This is the year of really weird car problems...

I cleaned mine with a 12 gauge shotgun cleaning kit. The rocker shaft is not under high pressure. There is a restricted feed fitting in the head that drops pressure in the rocker shaft down to a trickle (This might have been mentioned before). Definitely clean the shaft and all rocker arm orifices. Most likely they're gummed up and that causes rocker shaft wear.

A Silver/Silver '63 Riv is my 2nd favorite car of all time. I'd go for that.

Let me know if you have research questions...I'm an English teacher.

If you have the head and oil pan off, why not try soaking the cylinders for a day or two in transmission fluid or Marvel Mystery Oil? If you can't turn it by hand, it's stuck. By soaking, maybe you can get the thing working without damaging anything.