'60 dead in the water!

[Matt F.]

This morning, it was running fine. I took it out this afternoon, and it started cutting out, then stalled (close to home, thankfully) between gears and left me on the side of the road. It then wouldn't start with the key, but when pushed & bump started, it fired up and limped home as long as my foot was on the gas and it was in gear.
When the accelerator is pushed, I can see gas squirting into the carb. I'm no ace mechanic, but I am thinking this is a fuel problem. My thought was that maybe the fuel filter is clogged - the pump is a couple of years old, it shouldn't be a problem yet, I hope. My air filter is new, and the ignition (one of those HEI modules that fits inside the dist. cap) is a couple of months old and has a couple of hundred miles on it and has been working great, so I don't think that's the problem.

Can anyone help me?

thanks
-Matt

[Mike Cobine]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Just because they are fiberglass doesn't mean they are boats. Get it out of the water and maybe it will work better.

Remember, on an engine that has been running, there are only three things that make an engine run - spark, gas, and air. Pulling the air cleaner out always eliminates the lack of air.

When it stalls, kick in the clutch immediately. Leaving it engaged will turn the engine over and make the pump keep pumping. Then check the accelerator pump to see if it squirts gas. If so, you have gas. If not, then you have used up the fuel in the fuel bowl of the carb, meaning either gas isn't getting in (filter, needle and seat, etc.) or fuel isn't being delivered (fuel pump, fuel line, gas tank).

If you have gas, then spark it has to be. However, it fires up so it sounds like it has spark. Usually spark is a yes or no proposition. If it was runnign fine at low speed and terrible at high speed, then spark could be failing but you seem to have a problem everywhere.

It really sounds like a fuel delivery problem. On a '60, you'd have a Carter WCFB. These ran a leather cup accelerator pump and those were notorious for folding over and giving almost no squirt, making them fall flat. However, yours is just barely running, so eliminate the accelerator pump.

If you have an external filter, then remove it and see if the car runs. Do this just for a test. Then you know if the filter bad or not.

The old Coke bottle test is to have the fuel pump fill the bottle in 30 seconds cranking the engine and the fuel line in a bottle. Make sure you have no spark around doing this and that the engine won't start so the fan wouldn't hit you.

You sound like you have either a fuel restriction when running (junk in the fuel bowl floating over the jets, junk in fuel passage floating over the needle & seat, junk in filter floating up to cover/seal the end of the filter) or you have spark getting really wacky like the points having broken or the condensor gone bad. This type of wacky spark would be enough to start but would make it run bad.

That gives youa few things to check anyway.

[Michael W.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Is your HEI thing actually a pertronixs unit? Sounds identical to the symptoms of the time mine went dead.

Put your points and condenser back in and see what happens.

[Matt F.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

It's a Crane XR-I. I had considered that, but it's so new, I'm going to try a few simple things first, like the fuel filter, then I'll give the old ignition a try (shudder the thought!).

[William C.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Infant mortality is a known problem with things electronic, simply put they fail early, or generally seldom. Check the ignition, that is replace the old ignition dist and coil and try again

[Jim K.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Matt, I have a 60 also and had the identical problem. First I thought that I might have a pin size hole in one of my floats. I check them but putting them into a large jar of gas for about a week to see if they would sink, they didn't. My leak was in the primary side (closest barrels to the front of the car. I had rebuilt the carb severals months before. I took it apart again and found that the floats specs were not correct, but I also found that one of the bolts that secure the top plate was stripped out. I replace it the screw with one an 1/8 to 1/4 inch long rebuilt the carb according to spec (this time I check it 7 times to make sure it was right) and I haven't had a problem with it since. I hope this helps.

[Clem Z.]

to check for a leaking float

just submerge the float in a container of water,set it on the stove or hotplate and let the water boil. if the float has a pin hole you will see air bubbles coming out. this will also boil the gasoline out of a leaking brass float so you can solder it up. do NOT use your wifes pans as the gasoline smell is hard to remove,i now use a old coffee can. do not ask how i found this out. doing it on a hot plate in your garage will also keep the mrs off of your back as old gasoline realy smells up the kitchen

[Matt F.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Indeed, placing the prehistoric ignition components back in the distributor has solved the problem.

thanks!
Matt

[William C.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Sorry to be so old fashoned, but generally these cars just don't like newfangled High tech gadgets, just like some of us who started working on the old timers 40 or so years ago...

[Mike Cobine]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

Sometimes they don't like the old parts, either. I was just discussing that with the owner of a '63 coupe at the Silver Sporings Corvette Show today. Talked about spark plugs being bad while new and of course, the infamous condenser failures.

I never changed a set of points and condenser that I didn't toss the old olds in the glove box "just in case".

The "good ol' days" weren't always so good, just our memories of the bad slowly fading.

[William C.]

Re: '60 dead in the water!

True, but I have found a spare set of points a lot easier to carry (though never used) than a spare electronc "Whatzit"