i just bought a 76 nova to be a project car and i was told it would run if you pour gas down the carb but once that's gone it dies, i was thinking fuel sending unit and filter what else should i be checking? (4.1L inline 6) also it has new plugs wires cap and rotor. i want to be able to drive it in a week but id be surprised if i manage to get it that far. also i know it needs brake lines floor pans and the seats installed.
Should be easy enough to remove the fuel line from the carb and see if gas squirts out as you crank the engine.
If it does, maybe the float is stuck in the raised position (gummed up) and the needle valve is preventing gas from filling the float bowl.
Try firmly smacking the side and the top of the float bowl with a screwdriver handle or something to see if you can unstick the float
Take apart and clean the carburettor. It might also need be adjusted which is a lost art. If you're not familiar with them, then I would suggest picking up a how-to book.
i'll take a peek while im at the parts store tomorrow, was thinking about maybe swapping to a holly 4 barrel
The carburetor's probably shot. Pull the air cleaner cover off, open up the choke and pull the throttle cable while you're looking down in the throat of the carb. If you don't see a stream of gas, the accelerator pump is probably bad. If that's bad, you may as well replace or rebuild the carb. Some carburetors have filters within the unit, you may not find a filter in the lines to the tank.
My '79 Catalina sat 3 or 4 years untouched until last spring and I got it to run on the old gas that was in it, without replacing any fuel filters or the carb. Based on that, I would go for the carburetor being bad, mine was new shortly before the car had been parked. Get one at the auto parts store and save your old one so you can learn how to disassemble it and rebuild it. Never hurts to have a spare carburetor laying around.
You really can't put a 4-barrel on as an even swap with the 1-barrel, the 4 is much bigger than a 1-barrel, and requires at least a new intake manifold that can mount a 4-barrel in order to do it properly. My Catalina is a 2-barrel 301 and I thought about putting a 4 on, then a seasoned car guy at work said it's not THAT easy, and mentioned the intake issue. Another coworker has a 301 intake manifold for the 4-barrel.
i'll take a peek while im at the parts store tomorrow, was thinking about maybe swapping to a holly 4 barrel
You'd be better off getting the original setup working properly before doing any upgrades especially if you're not experienced at tuning carbs. (The original is a simple 1-barrel job that should be pretty easy to deal with.)
It sounds to me like your fuel pump is bad, fuel filter clogged, or if the car has been sitting a long time the gas tank and fuel lines need to be cleaned out, and of course the carb would need to be rebuilt.
the car last ran last year, and ill have to get under the car tomorrow and see if it is an in line filter, from what i could find online and looking in the engine bay it looks to have a mech fuel pump
Yes, the fuel pump is mechanical. It bolts to the side of the engine and runs off of an eccentric on the camshaft. That's the standard way things were done back then on most vehicles.
Why the heck didn't they leave that alone? replacing one was easy peasy
Right??? Took what, a few minutes and boom you were done. I miss those!
I vote for a carb rebuild and new filter.
