1956 buick fuel problem?

[radionut98]

Help! Rebuilt carburator (4 bbl carter), changed plugs, wires,

new fuel pump (rebuilt prof). Car sets and idles good, but when taken for a

ride around block it stalls and quits. After setting for few minutes it

will run but stalls again within 30 seconds. Anybody got ideas? Thanks Loren

[JohnD1956]

Check the rubber piece of fuel line that attaches the fuel supply line to the fuel pump. Down below the pump on the passenger side. Is this deteriorated?

Also how are the rest of your fuel lines? Is it all still steel to the tank pickup? If not, I'd check for more deteriorated rubber lines.

Did you keep the original fuel filter? Is this deteriorated and sending debris into the carb?

I had a terrible problem with my 56 Harmonic balancer this year. The car did run, but it was tough to keep going at an idle. It ran rough all the time.It seems many of the Nail head engined Rivera owners on the ROA maillist had a similar situation as well this past year.

I'd check it out. Disconnect your generator belt and your power steering belt, then grab ahold of the outside of your balancer and see if it twists on it's center shaft. If so, you have the same situation. Mine was ruined. My crank was 3/1000th out of round from the damage as well. Got a replacement from Ken Reeves, and had Damper Doc in California rebuild it. Even though the car already has steel gears, I put in a new set of timing gears and chain while in there.

Runs great now!

[BUICK RACER]

Have you also checked the tank for rust and crud, and as well as the things mentioned above, there's a steel plate in the bottom of the intake manifold that tends to rust out on the 4BBL, my brother's '56 Century and my parents' had that problem. I sent him the link so maybe he will jump on here in the morning with some more ideas. Roberta

[radionut98]

All rubber seems to be good, when I rebuilt carb I put new alum (?)

plate between two gaskets on intake manifold. Also put new fuel

filter between fuel pump and carb.. Guess the only thing I didn't

do was to pull gas tank and clean it. Might be the problem although

setting along side the driveway it will run for hours on idle so

thought the gas tank was good. Only when I'm actually going on test

drive I have the problems. Oh well off comes the gas tank as I

need a new sender anyway. Thanks John and Roberta for inputs.

Loren

[Guest imported_bjr]

Have you checked the gas cap to see if the vent is plugged, or have you changed it to a modern non-vented gas cap? If so, air cannot get into the tank fast enough to replace the gas being removed when driven at speed, the car starves for gas and quits. After it sits a bit, enough air seeps back into the tank so it will run. At an idle it is not removing the gas faster than air is seeping back in, which is why it will idle. To conferm this, drive the car until it quits and immediatly remove the gas cap. If you here a woosh of air being sucked into the tank that's your problem. Then drive the car with the gas cap cracked open to let air in and see if it keeps running when driven at speed. Good luck Brian

[vasilow]

I fought with rust in tank/fuel lines all last year. Try taking the top off fuel pump and look for rust in accumulator. Only takes a small piece of crud under check valves and it won't pump well. I have taken mine apart and blown out the debris, runs good for awhile and then have to do it again. Looks like I will have to drop the tank. How long has your car sat? Mine was off the road since 1981 until I got it out last year.

[radionut98]

Well mine sat (squatted, heheh) from 1974 until 2002 when I finally

bought it and tried to start it. It ran but missed a lot and there

was no way I could regulate the carburator. As I didn't have a lot

of time until lately to work on it it squatted some more. This spring

I made up my mind to get it on the road rust and all. So ovhled the

carb, put new coil, wires, plugs and put new fuel pump on it. Ran

better but still quits after about ten minutes. I gotta drop the tank. Loren

[vasilow]

Wow! Glad I asked how long. I actually didn't touch points on mine until I drove to Flint last year 300 niles away. Put in new plugs, though. Wouldn't crank off the starter switch so I pulled carb. Couldn't find anything wrong with switch. Just for kicks I pushed throttle all the way to watch 4 barrels open while I had it off the car. They didn't open so I put screw driver in and popped it. Secondaries had rusted shut and were keeping throttle from opening far enough to hit switch.

How are the brakes and radiator? Mine ran fine around town but got hot at highway speeds. I put new hoses and rebuilt front wheel cylinders but still not happy with how it stops, think I need to rebuild master cylinder, too.

[JohnD1956]

I had a local shop make me a three core radiator using my original tanks, but the car still ran hot going to Flint last year. When got home I had to drain the system for another problem and I noticed there was debris in the top tank clogging some of the tubes.

I had the radiator taken apart and rodded, then I bought a filter from TEBKA enterprises. This filter goes in the top radiator hose ( i did have to cut it, but it's several years old already) and I left the heater disconnected so all coolant has to pass the filter.

I couldn't believe the crap that filter caught in just an hours worth of idling.

I plan to pop my soft plugs and rinse out the water jacket sometime this summer. Then hook up the heater again.

[JohnD1956]

I also had my tank redone by a gas tank renu dealer in Albany. He's the same guy who built my radiator. This process is marvelous. My tank had a big dent, and they were able to press it out and save my tank. It comes in two finishes, silver ( looks like a new tank) or a black corrugated which looks like undercoating. I took the black undercoating to match my car.

They actually cut off a part of the tank on the topside. Then the tank is cleaned, and I believe blasted. They spot welded the filler neck in place before de-soldering the seam. The seam is replaced with this coating. Then they welded the top back on, coated the tank inside and out, and bake on the finish, like a powder coating I guess. The result was perfect. They really did an excellent job!

And I can fill it right up the filler neck with no problems.

Here's one thing though. I had installed a new sender unit several years earlier. When I started getting leaks, I figured the tank had a fatigue crack at the dent. After the tank was done, it leaked again. When we shook the tank with gas in it, it turned out to be the rivits holding the sending unit together that actually leaked. This guy had a special epoxy which he put over the rivits. Sealed the whole thing up nicely. I suggest epoxying those rivits fron the get-go. You can't see it on top of the tank and it sure beats dropping the thing another time.

John D

[radionut98]

Hi guys thanks for all the info. The car actually runs in mid range heat

according to the gauge and I can actually touch the radiator. Believe

it is heating normally. Put new brakes on it and checked the

wheel cylinders they were working so didn't change them. However

I don't have power brakes so must exert lots ( I mean lots ) of

pressure to stop the vehicle. My son and I are going to bleed the

brakes dry and put new fluid in and if that doesn't work will

rebuild master cylinder. Brake pedal only travels about 1 1/2 inches

before it solid so think the fluid is bad or there is air in the system. Loren

[Guest 53and61]

I'm wondering if your brake problem is the same as mine was on my '61, namely the linings. When I replaced them with modern ones, the braking effort (even with power assist) became excessive. An old local mechanic looked at the new linings (and smelled them!) and was sure that asbestos linings would cure the problem. He was right. It's apparently legal to sell old stock asbestos linings, and that's what I found. Made all the diffenence in the world. My '53 has non-power brakes with asbestos linings, and the braking effort is very low. If there's a new non-asbestos product for vintage cars that's as good as asbestos, I'd like to know about it.

[radionut98]

Thanks for the info on the brakes, will check the box the linings came in

and read the instructions to see if they are abestos or new type lining.

I got them via "Advantage Auto" and they have big warehouse in Albany

NY so might be abestos but I ain't betting on it. Thanks Loren