Sean, Coil wire? Ugh, I know... I suck. I google imaged it and can't find a good pic. This "old car" thing is harder than I thought. But I guess learning a thing or two about fuel injection was hard for me in the beginning, but I got the hang of it. I just need to learn by doing I suppose.
My hunch is that you have a dead/dying voltage regulator. Try the simple, inexpensive stuff, first. Sounds like exactly what I experienced, years ago, with a dead regulator.
If you haven't gotten this thing running by July, get ahold of me via the board. I'm down in Westchester County, NY. If it's not to far I could give you a hand. I'm assuming you have basic hand tools, a timing light and possibly a Ohm/volt meter and/or a test light? If not, I do
I just skimmed this and it sure sounds like a charging system problem was the initial culprit. Now, if it is charged up and turning over, but backfires it likely has ignition and or carb issues. Looking at that carb I'm amazed it ever ran at all! If you do get it fired up, make sure to get the charging system checked out before you go on. I had my regulator go out on my '73 Ford truck. It would fire up cold, but not hot. This lasted a week before the battery was finally drained too low to start cold, then I finally resolved the problem for about $5 worth of wire and some electrical connectors. No trouble since.
My Dad had the the same car except it was gold, bought new in fall of 1966. Best car he ever owned. Anyway he had a similar problem. Had a new set of points put in and a few hundred miles later it died and wouldn't start. Turned out that the guy who installed the points didn't lubricate them and the cam follower wore down enough that the points weren't opennig. By the way yours doesn't look all that rusty in the pics. Good luck with it!
Thanks for all the ideas everyone. I swear, I am TRYING to get on this project, but I also have to finish addressing DD's issues, and work, blah blah. Ugh... The time, the time...
I'm shocked no one picked up on the dimming lights. That means your car was running on the battery only for whatever reason. Most likely the voltage regulator is toast but your alternator isn't running like it should. That also explains the slow cranking. Get your alternator, regulator and battery checked (make sure the connections are all tight first) before you start tearing into anything else. The none of the aforementioned issues will make your lights dim when you're going down the road. I will almost (99.9%) guarantee it's a charging system problem. Why am I so certain? I had the exact same thing happen to one of my old cars and a friend did too.
I'm trying to find time to get her up and running, but my DD has developed a rust problem (among other things) that I am debating on what to do with. Long story short, my '94 bimmer has 181k on it, rust in the rockers, and some mysterious gasket leakage, among other things. In short, I have too much money into the thing to sell it, yet I don't want to just cease fixing problems for that exact same reason. If that makes sense. I will definitely be referring back to this thread when the time comes to play around with the Buick. I can't wait. Maybe you all can help me with a new thread I started about rust prevention. As you now know, my Buick and BMW have rust problems, and I need to do everything I can to prevent the same from happening to my Nissan (my "newest" car - 4 years old). More specifics in this thread: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=1228527#post1228527
for the record never use cinder blocks under a car. :spank: they will crumble like your head if the car falls on them. if anything use blocks of wood. (not fire wood but 2x4s or something)
