Where to start… power or fuel?

[Minngirl]

First, I am so excited to be a new owner of an old roadster!!! Second, also excited to find this awesome group! Thank you!!! Amazing content and experience. Please pardon the introductory nature of my understanding and skills but I have to start somewhere. I need something to keep my mind off the depressing state of the world today - if only for a few hours at a time!

I test drove a beautiful, white ‘70 1600 two times on two different days and fell in love! She, Pearl, ran beautifully, not as a perfectly tuned Maserati, but as a 52-year-old project car should. I paid for her and my ride left me to drive her home. I backed up from the parking spot in front of the garage and she died. Not to be restarted with any amount of cajoling.

Upon inspection, battery was dead and alternator fuse blown. She started right up with a battery pack and a new fuse. We charged the battery for a while, adjusted the idle, and she ran well again. For about 3 miles that is. Then she stalled in the middle of a busy country intersection. Lesson #1: buy a car easy to push off the road. Once safely off the road, and with the hood up, the inspection began. Fuse: not the problem. Battery: Likely a problem. Fuel: low and possibly a problem. Lessons # 2 and #3: when you purchase a convertible without a working top you need A:sunblock and B:bug spray. Lesson #4: Expect every third car to stop, not to offer assistance, but to ask what kind of car it is because they have not seen one like it before. And be prepared to listen to their stuck-on-the-side-of-the-road stories. Hold girl card in pocket for when you REALLY need it. This was not the time. Call your kind friend, who drove you to the middle-of-nowhere, back and offer dinner for another kind favor of driving BACK to the middle of nowhere (now that we were approaching the edge) and pick up the battery the seller offered as assistance. Lesson #5: bring a toolbox. Always bring a toolbox. Battery replaced and car running - sorta. Sputters, shutters, and backfires for a couple miles before the car settles down to simply not having the power to exceed 30 mph on the flat. Fuel tank filled with 91 octane and no change. Made it home, slowly and with much displeasure of surrounding motorists, who have nowhere to go on a beautiful Saturday morning but must get there at 70 mph, through deer, turkey, and occasionally cow infested roads. (BTW: I hit one of those elusive deer last night- thankfully with the 250 and not the roadster. I know know one benefit of a lifted truck.).

That brings me to starting the process of determining what to do first? I am not an expert and despite reading many forums and watching hours of YouTube videos, I am yet to find one that puts the data together and says, “Start here.” Oh yes, and I hope to do most of the work myself so I can lean what I need to do the next time I inevitably end up stalled in the middle of an intersection in the middle of nowhere without cell service.

Any suggestions on the best place to start?

Best regards and let the adventures begin!

Joan

[Habitat.pat]

Welcome, Joan! You’ve come to the right place, there is a lot of expertise here. Remember, the only stupid question is the one that you don’t ask.

Since The car is new to you it would be a good idea to go through and check the state status of everything, fuel, compression and electrics.

The first thing I would check is fuel. Pull the fuel line off the carbs & while holding the hose in a container, have someone crank the engine. You should get good pulsing fuel flow.

The carbs on our cars can be finicky. You’ll need to get proficient & adjusting them.

Check the compression to get a general idea of engine health & see what the plugs look like. That will give you an indication of engine tune.

That’s a good starting point to figuring out what’s wrong with the car.

Peace,
Pat

[notoptoy]

Welcome as stated above, check fuel, also check the Points and condenser, cap, rotor and plug wires for integrity (run the car in pitch black to look for any signs of arcing/sparks etc. Fuel system in these cars don't like sitting, junk and sediment clog up the fuel lines and there may be rust and scale in the tank that block the fuel pick-up. Check and clean out the tank if necessary. Replace any old or cracked fuel lines.
Ask lots of questions if you don't know or understand, we're here to help!

[redroadster]

It's best to assess the major components first
instead of putting $$$ into say fuel & electrical but then finding major issues .
1st thing in getting a long parked engine is pulling the spark plugs spray in penetrate oil & let sit maybe a day
Also pull the valve cover to spray the valve stems with it too , it's best to turn the engine over by hand , but that's not easy here , once it cranks easily, (turning torque in specs ) for 5 min , check compression, cold ,
Note the first pump jump , if that's good check fuel flow from the tank ,it should flow easily with a hf vac pump
Then you can start to see if it wants to fire Don't try Starting fluid That's not what it's for , lots to check on a R16 carb slides , float bowls right , Best to leave off 2 plug wires to get running for 2-3 min .
Then its brakes & suspension checked carefully steering lighting , trans fluid ,all fluids ,test cooling system ( close by home ) best to have insurance on it before driving too , I like my 70 SPL

[Bwk2000]

Welcome. +1 on everything discussed above.

Since it ran fine for you on two earlier test drives, it doesn’t sound like that serious of a problem.
I also recommend you start by checking the big three: Fuel, Spark & Air - systematically.

Fuel:
Fuel line leak or fuel quantity/quality issues
Fuel filter
Fuel pump
Float level
Carb Air/Fuel mixture, idle or sync adjustment

Spark:
Plugs
Plug wires
Dist. Cap, rotor, points, (or EI connections) & timing
Coil & condenser
Battery, terminals, cables & connections
All grounding wires
Fuses, fuseable links & wire connectors
Alternator, regulator & starter operation

Air:
Filter
Vacuum line (Dist. vacuum advance)
Carb & manifold gasket seals.

95% of starting/running problems can be traced back to one (or more) of the above.

Keep us up to date.

[Gregs672000]

Welcome Joan, Love your story-telling writing style! All the info above is great. As mentioned, be systematic in your analysis, and do eventually check all the things mentioned above even after she's running again... that will keep her running down the road.

Your spark plugs are a good insight to your engine and can tell you a lot by how they look. There are pictures on the net to describe what may be going on and I encourage you to check them out. In essence, black is rich, white is lean and tan is just right. They should all be the same. Keep them in order when you remove them as that can tell you if there are issues in just one cylinder, a pair of cylinders (points to a carb problem) or all 4 (spark or fuel system). If they are white and the car backfired through the carbs then that suggests a fuel problem (plugged fuel lines/filter/tank, bad fuel pump, incorrect carb settings); black points more toward a spark issue (points and condenser if original, internal wires, distributor not working correctly to advance the timing... check with a timing light).

After you pull the plugs to see what they tell you, then check the points for pits and point gap (requires a feeler gauge), and REPLACE the condenser (the little canister looking thing on the side of the distributor) as they go bad and often cause your problems. Check for spark by putting a screw driver in one of the spark plug wires and getting it very close to metal while cranking the engine to check for spark (you can touch the handle not the metal of the driver and you won't get shocked).

If the plugs are white, then you have a fuel issue... trace back your fuel delivery. If only two are white, it tells you it's in THAT carb/system; all 4 then check both and work back. As mentioned, you can check delivery from the fuel pump by removing a fuel line connections and having it dump into a glass bottle while you crank the engine to see if the pump is good. The fuel lines can plug up in these cars from sitting, as can garbage and rust build up in the tank that plugs the pick up line.

Keep digging and report what you find. We WILL get you running and reliable!

[iloveredmeat]

Welcome Joan, Love your story-telling writing style!

I second that! Great narration and I have printed out your lessons list and have them in my wallet for reference.

These smart forum folk will get you all tuned up and kudos to tackling it yourself.

Good luck, looking forward to hearing more.
PM