All kinds of questions about my new ('77 lol) Skylark

@ 1967GS340 and others...

Thanks for the input on the issue. ima go ahead and look into it more when the weather clears up some and ill make a different thread about it.

Dont mean to hijack this thread XP

 

Hey do any of you Skylark owners know how the dash board attaches? It looks like it's only two bolts on either side of it but after undoing those it didn't want to come out and I didn't want to force it and break it. I got my shop manual today but it doesn't say anything about it. Wish me luck in doing my replacements tomorrow! Thanks again for all your help.

 

I don't know the 77, but look around the entire dash, all around the bottom, sides and everywhere.
There are probably several screws to remove.

Do not try and force it. You will regret trying to hurry it if you break something.

 

I've never removed the dash in my car, nor have I looked into it, so I got nothing. It's definately more than two bolts. You'll likely want to get the chassis manual for the car.

 

Unfortunately I need some more advice if you all wouldn't mind giving it.

I replaced the fuel pump and found I needed a new fuel line from the pump to the carb. So I ruined two steel lines from Kragen trying to get them to fit, and when I finally did my car didn't idle because I'd kinked the hose. So I bought two 3/8ths male to hose adapters and ran a rubber fuel line. Well even after clamping them down tight as possible I was still leaking fuel and my car still won't idle. I found I was leaking fuel from the adapter to the fuel pump though so I tried putting a little gasket sealer on the threads and that seemed to cure my leak problem. Except it still didn't idle, and when I tried to put it back up on the stands it died, and I started leaking fuel again. So now it's sitting right in front of the stands and I can't get it back up. I'm feeling really frustrated and I ran out of daylight today. It sucks. I'm going to junk yards tomorrow hoping to find a fuel line that will fit but I'm not even sure that will fix the problem since when I had it all hooked up and nothing was leaking I still wasn't idling. Any advice or help is as always very appreciated.

 

Order the correct line:

www.thepartsplaceinc.com

Do NOT use sealer. It may get into your carb and next you may need the carb rebuilt or at least torn down.

Use the correct line fitting tool to remove and install.

 

I looked at that website and I didn't see anything that seemed correct. In the Skylark section they don't seem to have anything in the fuel section that even hints at being a prebent line and in the Nova section all I see is this "( - Nova/Chevy II) HOLLEY DUAL FEED LINES AND BRASS BLOCK USED ON ALL DUAL FEED HOLLEY CARBS (3 PIECES)"

Could that be the answer to my troubles? I'm also hitting junk yards tomorrow hoping to get lucky.

 

I replaced my fuel line with a line from a junk yard today and that's working fine but the car still won't idle. I also hear a pop that might be a misfire sometimes. So with what I know it's either I gunked up the carb with that gasket sealer, or my timing is off. Do any of you have an idea what my new problem may be?

And if it is the carb how difficult is it to pull it apart ad clean it out?

 

You got fuel and ignition to troubleshoot. How certain are you with the timing? Try unhooking the vacuum advance line and see if the idle smooths out. Has anyone messed with the carb? Do you know if the idle mixture screws are set properly? I personally like a vacuum gauge and tach to set the idle by.

For the carb, like anything, pulling it apart and putting it back together just takes some patience and attention to detail.

Service manual has trouble shooting techniques in it as well as carb rebuild pictures.

 

Actually looking it up, I remember wedging a wrench or something pretty hard against the vacuum advance while trying to get a straight steel fuel line into place (I didn't know what it was at the time lol). Could this be the problem? Did I screw up a sensitive part? Do I need to replace it?

To describe the situation a bit more: The only way to get the car started right now is to hit the gas while I'm turning the key, then the only way to keep it running is to stay on the gas. When I get off the gas the engine will sputter out.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I can't really tell you how much I'm enjoying working on my car, or how much of a resource you all (and TheSilverBuick in particular) have been.

 

It's probably not damaged. But, pushing against the vacuum advance may have moved the distributor, thus changed the timing. (?)

 

Start with bumping up the idle screws. I know my old 231, when I was 16 and a novice to cars, would flood a lot.

How's your choke working and set? If you don't know, sit in the car getting it warmed up and start all adjustments only when the car is warmed up. I'd start by bumping up the idle screw a bit, turn the idle screw in two or so turns, it 'should' fire up and probably idle high. Then with it idling high, back the idle screw down until it doesn't die when you put it in gear. Once you have that set, then let the car completely cool off (next day?), and push the gas pedal to the floor ONCE, then check the carb and see if the choke butterfly is closed (or nearly so) and that the throttle is on the high idle cam (passenger side/right side of the carb). If neither of these has happened, adjust the choke on the right/passenger side, it should have a wire going to it (electric choke) and turn it towards the richer side (clockwise?). You may have to go one or two clicks at a time until the car starts reliably while cold and high idles as it warms up. To restart the whole process, when you get a vacuum gauge, do all that again, how ever start with the warm idle, then adjust the mixture control screws on the front of the carb, turning equally, until you have max vacuum at around 600-700rpm idle (or an idle the car doesn't die when you put it into gear if you don't have a tach).

Now is the perfect time to learn the particulars of engine tuning and the various variables that control fuel and spark, and eventually how rpm, load, heat, fuel and ignition timing are related and effect each other. All principles learned on the V6 will apply to a V8 (or any 4-stroke engine really).

 

Ok, thank you to everyone for your help, I've got it running again. It was my timing and moving the distributor fixed that right up.

 

:TU:Hey!