Fuel pump or carb?

Can't get the car to start anymore. A few weeks ago my car suddenly wouldn't start up after a car show. Usually I would have to try starting it about 3 times before it cranked but on that morning it started right up on the first try. Went and got gas and it back fired after starting back up ( never done that before). Made it to the car show, stayed a few hours, cranked the car back up and it acted like it wasn't getting fuel and died. Hasn't started since but engine will turn over. Before all that I've always had to feather the gas pedal to get it to go after stopping at lights and stop signs. Even revved it up to 3000 rpm released the clutch and had it sputtered and died. So could this be the push rod or fuel pump? The engine is a 383 and looks like it has never been freshened up, I got it about a year ago.

don't know what you have but when it sputtters and dies can you check the fuel bowls? is there fuel going into the carb if you just blip the throttle when the car isn't running? based on what you've said it could be anything from a clogged sending unit in the tank to any point into the intake

Yeah fuel is getting to the carb, It's an old Carter 4 barrel.

its cranking over fine?. it shoots a good stream out the AP when you pull the throttle? pull the coil wire (dist end) & hold it 1/4" from the intake (ground) and have a helper crank it with the key & see if you get healthy sparks (some blueish tint is better). Are the plugs in good shape?

I had this happen to me before and it turned out to be bad gas. With today's gas you never know? I'm not sure if you are experiencing the same issue but I had to drain all my brand new gas out and replace it. Issue went away.

Just a real quick test and you will know if it is bad gas or not. Now assuming that your fuel pump didn't quit on you,spray carb cleaner down the carb and try to start the car. If it starts up right away then you have bad gas. Again, this is assuming that your fuel pump is working correctly.

If it does not start up and assuming your fuel pump is working then it's either spark plugs, coil, or somewhere in the ignition.

Quick test for that is to take out the number one spark plug and with the spark plug wire on it hold the spark plug tip onto the engine somewhere that has a good ground. Have a helper try to start the engine. If you see a good spark coming from the spark plug then your ignition is fine.

"Niether", as mentioned above, bad gas is more likely.

Check this out, a very high level freshly restored car that sat in climate controlled storage for a year or so without being driven. EVERY part of this car was new, car had never been driven further than down the driveway after being completed. This is what todays gas can become in a surprisingly short period of time, while they looked great on the outside, all of these components required replacement, tank, pickup, fuel lines, etc. plus a new fuel pump and a carburetor restoration to cure the issue.

Same parts, the inside of the carb was just as bad!

Fuel yes a good possibility but when he states backfires I would look at Ignition{Control box or timing chain if its a 383 it has a nylon chain stock

Mine backfired like hell. It drove me crazy until I diagnosed bad gas. I mean I just filled it up. How can it be the gas?

It sounds to me like it could be anything. You really need to start at step 1

Pull number 1 plug, bring it up on compression, line up the timing marks and pull off the dist cap and see if the rotor is pointing to the number 1 plug wire.

If its not, your timing chain had jumped a tooth and you need a new timing chain & gears.

If the rotor is pointing to the number 1 plug wire, see if you have a spark at the plug wire. Place the plug on the intake manifold and connect the plug wire, have a helper crank the motor to see if there is spark at the plug. No spark means you need to do a complete tune up with new plugs, points (if it still has them) a dist cap, rotor, and plug wires.

I would pull all of the plugs and do a compression test, just to get an idea of the condition of the motor.

You already said you have gas at the carb, so the fuel pump, lines, and sending unit in the tank must still be good, but that doesn't mean the gas is any good, or that the bad gas may not have damaged the fuel system stuff. I would drain a little gas out of the tank or carb, dump a little bit on the ground and see if it will burn. I've drained gas out of a tank that wouldn't burn when you held a lit torch to it!

All this sounds like a lot of work, because it is. You know nothing about your car. If you expect to have something you can get in and drive when you want to, it needs to be brought up to great running condition. Gene

Those are some good points. I'll have to check the gas this weekend. Spark plugs and wires are a year old and I'm running an electronic distributor with an msd box. I looked up similar issues and some people found it was a bad fuel pump push rod. But I'll try to check everything you guys mentioned this Saturday, hopefully I can figure out the problem

Easiest way to check the fuel pump is take the fuel line loose at the carb and crank the engine over enough to see if fuel comes squirting out of the line. Just a couple of revolutions should show that. Be sure you pull the coil wire out of the coil so you don't start a fire. Your problem could be fuel related or ignition electrical. Going on line and diagnosing the problem can lead you very astray. Just do the basic fuel and ignition tests and let us know what you find.

I had a very similar problem. The car would lose power, then stutter, back fire too of I remember correctly. I thought it was my ignition and did a lot of testing and parts swaps (mostly points) to try and figure it out. I ended up pulling the carb. When I took the carb apart, both fuel bowls were full of ultra-fine particles of rust, like a sand box. fine particles of rust had been making it past my autozone fuel filter for months. Not sure if the tank was rusting due to pump gas or that the car had sat covered in a field for many months before I bought it. Anyways, with a clean carb and new filter it fired right up.

Check your fuel filter. If there is reddish residue, you could have rust in carb