Hey Guys,
I've been wondering about this situation for a few months and thought I'd run it by the experts on this board to get some ideas.

Car is a 1970 Super Bee 440-6. All stock equipment. It gets started and driven about once a week or so on average. The concern I have is that the cranking time it takes to get it to fire up after sitting seems long to me. It seems to take maybe 15 seconds of cranking to get fuel up to the carb to fire up. Once it is started the first time, it runs ok and any "hot starts" for the remainder of the day fire up on the very first crank. But after it's sat again for 3 or 4 days, it's the same process over again.

Sometimes I pour a shot of gas in the primary to prime it and this seems to work fine. I've also verified there are no "external" fuel leaks.

My question is -- where is the gas going? The fuel in the bowl (and in the lines/filter as well) seem to disappear or drain back to the tank after sitting for a few days.

I've done a little searching on the net and have seen cases on other makes where carbs can leak into the engine, evaporate or just boil off after shutdown...

What do you guys think? What could I look for to see if there is a problem and if so, what it might be? I was thinking of adding an electric fuel pump to prime the carb quicker before starting, but this is more a workaround. Or is this normal behavior for some carbs?

Thanks a lot ... this one has me really puzzled.

I appreciate your ideas on this one!

--Stan

from another post i just posted....same problem.
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...rue#Post4556905


"i had this EXACT SAME PROBLEM. What ended up fixing it was a 1" 4-hole phenolic spacer, that stops the gas from boiling out after you shut down the engine, and heat soaks back up into the carb. You'll gain 2 things with the spacer, it will always start perfect, and you'll get a better signal to the carb and have really nice crisp bottom end throttle response. Having your choke adjusted properly also really helps, it was only the spacer that really solved the problem, now i just get in turn the key and vrooommmm, starts every time; where before i would have to crank, crank, crank, take off air cleaner, squirt gas in the carb, crank and start; sometimes i would actually flood it trying to start it."

what happens is the gas evaporates in the carb, next time you go to start it, your relying on the pump to fill the carb back up, and usually in the process you may flood the carb. The electric pump will help the problem, filling the carb before you start it, but it is not solving the initial problem, and a phenolic insulating spacer solves that problem completely. Now with my car it could sit for 1 min, 1hr, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and it always starts instantly.

Thanks 69charger.

In my situation, these are Holley two-barrels though. Not sure if the problem on the other thread could be Edelbrock specific ??

Also, I can restart the car on the first or second crank for hours after it's been started up the initial time. Was wondering if this made any difference -- How long does it take for the heat to boil off the gas in the bowls to cause the long crank times again?

Thanks a lot folks!

--Stan

Thanks a lot for the info on the spacers. I never would have thought to try that out.

Is anyone out there running these insulating spacers with a Six-Pack? If so, will they work with the existing linkage, etc?

Anyone with six-pack carbs had similar experiences like this?

Thanks a lot everyone!

-Stan

Check the center carb squirter diaphram. They can leak real slow resulting in a empty float bowl after 4 days. There is a small depression in the intake manifold just below it that usually collects the dip making it not real obvious, and then it evaporates.

Thanks all for the info.

Where is the squirter diaphram on the center carb? (sorry for the simple questions - but I'm still learning about all this stuff) Is it on the driver's side? And how would I check or replace this part? I'll attach a photo of the setup as well.

I've never seen any fuel on the intake while running or after shutting down, but I'd sure love to figure out what is happening to it..

Thanks all for your continued help with my questions!

-Stan

Anyone? Thanks a lot!!

gas formulation has changed. It evaporates quickly. Spacers might run you into hood clearance issues on a 70 Bee.

Hide an electric pump back near the tank.

Check for obvious leaks, as mentioned by others more familiar with 6pac setups, but I'd still install some kind of spacer, even the 3/8" thick "cardboard" spacers will help a lot.

Thanks a lot guys for the tips. I learn so many good new tricks from these posts.

For the cardboard type spacers -- where would I get these? Are these standard at auto parts stores etc?
And does anyone with a 6-pack know whether this has to be done to all 3 carbs or just the center?

Thanks!

Thanks for the answers as my cuda was having the same exact problem.

Thanks guys for the tips.

Just to cover all the bases on this ... on a web search I came across a posting (I think on a Ford site ) that talked about how if the carb bowls go dry, it might mean the gas is dripping into the engine internally from the carb?? Which could cause great damage to the motor.

Is there any way to eliminate this possibilty? Have you guys ever heard of a carb doing that and how would you be able to tell if it's happening?

Thanks a lot !

--Stan

Thanks again for the great explanation on this stuff. It really helps.

Is there a risk then with running an electric fuel pump that if you let it run too long to prime the carb before startup you could end up dumping gas down inside the engine (where it mixes with the oil, I would imagine)?

How would you know if your fuel has been leaking into the inside of the engine? Would it be mixed in with the oil or would it burn up inside when the motor has run?

Thanks a lot!

--Stan