'37 Terraplane starting and running issue

Hudsonrules
Hudsonrules Senior Contributor
edited April 2013 in HUDSON
Here I am again. Been tinkering with my '37 Terraplane. It will start and run with the handchoke closed. Soon as I open thwe choke after running for several minutes the engine dies. Will start again with the choke closed. This car has a later 2 barrel carb, like possibly '41'47. I had the carburetor rebuilt when I firasst aquired the car and it ran well, just would not go anywhere. I put in a new clutch etc, rebiult fuel pump. replaced the gas line from the tank. I installed new plugs, wires, points, condensor and have checked the timing, that seems okay. I think the carburetor is bad as the car has been sitting nearly four years while I found time to play with it. Any sujjestion? Thanks, Arnie in Nevada.

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    You said that after the carb was rebuilt the car "just would not go anywhere". So, are you saying that even with a rebuilt carb it wouldn't work? Was this carb rebuild done by a professional? Sounds like maybe the problem for which a rebuilt carb seemed to be the answer, was not cured by the carb rebuild. Thus, the problem has always lain elsewhere.

    Could you have a leak in the intake manifold gasket or something?
  • Hudsonrules
    Hudsonrules Senior Contributor
    The car had a bad clutch that was not told to me when I bought the Terraplane. It ran, but leaked gas really bad out of the carburetor. So I had it rebuilt by a Carburetor shop in Carson City. It was olay at first, but I let the car sit for a couple years while replacing the clutch etc. Will a vacumn leak cause such a problem? Will run with choke closed, dies when choke is opened just a little. I put the hand choke on the carburetor as I could not find any hook up for an automatic choke. However it did start when I first aquired the car. Thanks for the help.
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    You need to check the float level. Take the lid off the bowl and check if there is fuel in there, if so then you have an air leak or blocked jets, but being a twin throat I would doubt that both main jets would be blocked.
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    Yes a vacuum leak could cause your problem.
    You say it sat for a long time. Are you trying to run it on the old gas?
    Try a separate can with fresh gas , run direct to carb , from a hose.
    Takes a little rigging , but will answer some questions.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    By the way, it's not too hard to get the automatic choke running. I too had a hand choke (courtesy of a previous owner) in my '37 but hooked up the automatic and it runs just fine. If you have the correct carb (and I too have the post-war carb, not the '37 one), it just require a choke stove and a flexible tube from that, to the carb. (I used a simple copper tube for that, and wrapped it with some insulation.) There is a threaded fitting on the underside of the climatic control spring housing, which mates with a brass fitting (which terminates one end of the tube). Vacuum in the carburetor pulls heated air from the choke stove (which is fastened to the exhaust manifold) through the tube, into the climatic housing. That heat causes the spring to relax which opens the choke. If you can't find or salvage the original rectangular '37 choke stove on the manifold (they rust pretty badly) you can buy a universal choke stove with the tubing, at a parts store. This stove fastens to the exhaust pipe with a hose clamp.
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