I have been experiencing a strange new problem with my TBird.  It is very hot here in Central Florida right now.  We have a small car show every Wednesday morning in a paved parking lot. Three times now I have had a problem starting the car after it's been sitting in the heat.  My car is black and you could fry an egg on the hood.  The engine turns over, but it acts like there is no fuel. I pump the accelerator and nothing happens. Eventually the engine starts and it runs perfectly.  So far I have not had the problem when the car is in the garage or at any other time.  I have a Holley 465 with a 1957 "B" intake manifold. I haven't looked down the carb to see if I'm getting fuel, but it's very intermittent. Do I need an electric fuel pump?

Phil, you know as much/more than most about these cars. I'm sure you'll find a solution.

Is there an insulator under the carburetor? is the fuel line to close to the block?  

I would suspect that it is hard to start because of an over-rich mixture in the intake from fuel percolation or vapors venting within the air cleaner or carb throats. If so, slowly opening the throttle partway and holding it there while cranking should result in it firing up pretty quickly.

1954 Crestline Victoria 312 4-bbl, 3-speed overdrive

Years ago I discovered that when I had the hood up at a show, restarting wasn’t a problem. Down, it was. I got so I put the hood up at home in the garage if I was going out again soon. I thought it was both the carb boiling dry and the fumes inside the air cleaner. It was worse with the bonnet for the supercharger. It’s free to give it a try.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I had a 1" plastic spacer under my carb for a long time. Recently replaced it with a 1/2" PCV conversion spacer from Casco.  I am fairly sure the carb running dry as it sits in that parking lot. Don't know what the temperature is under that hood, but it must be hot enough to bake a cake.  I'll try lifting the hood and see what happens.

My experience has been ‘heat soak’ taking place when the engine is cut off which in turn has the carburetor dribbling excess fuel into the engine when it sits.  This usually takes some grinding on the starter to get that excess fuel out before the engine will restart.  Pumping the accelerator in these cases typically aggravates the problem.  I can see where ethanol laden gasoline can also exacerbate the issue as that fuel would be more heat sensitive.

In your case and in a similar ‘hot’ circumstance, I’ll suggest barely opening the throttle and then try starting the engine.  Avoid pumping any additional fuel into the engine and see if that helps.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks Ted.  I all my years of playing with these engines this is the first time I have had this particular issue.  This is also the first time I have parked my car on asphalt in 100 degree weather.  I checked everything again and I can't find anything amiss.  I rerouted my PCV line, but I doubt that had anything to do with it.  When sitting in my garage, the engine starts immediately and idles like a watch.  I recently switched to a lower octane gas. Maybe there is something in the fuel that is making it worse?  It does seem pumping the gas pedal makes it take longer to start.  It makes me a little nervous because I don't want to get stuck.  I'll see what happens next Wednesday. 

You might want to drill and tap your 1" plastic spacer for the PCV fitting and replace the aluminum plate.  Just a thought.  Joe-JDC

JDC

My saga continues.  Today after the Wednesday morning car show my car wouldn't start again.  Last week I left the hood up and had no problems.  This time, the hood was left up as before.   After cranking the engine without sucess, I removed the air cleaner to see if I was getting fuel.  The stream from both squirters was substantial, so I eliminated lack of fuel from being the problem.  A friend held the coil wire to ground and I had no spark.  I checked the wires and all seemed OK.  My friend said my coil was very hot to the touch.  After a couple of minutes, the engine started and ran perfectly on the way home.   My ignition system is composed of a stock 1957 distributor with a Pertronix #1 module and a Pertronix 1.5 Ohm Flame Thrower coil.   I am not running an external resistor.  This combo has worked without fault for at least two years.  It's very intermittent and seems to be related to the heat in that parking lot.  Should I change out the coil and/or the Pertronix unit?  Could bad ignition wires cause this?  It's got me puzzled...