A couple of weeks ago I went out for a ride and it was driving nicely.  Came to a red light and had to sit a few minutes.  The engine starting idling rough and sputtering as if choking for gas, then cut off.  I tried turning it over and it would turn over but not fire up.  Got it to the side of the road and tried to start numerous times.  I have a glass filter leading to the carb and it had gas in it.  Finally called a friend to come help, we got a gas can (I did not know if the gauge was accurate but was read 3/4 of a tank.  Put 2.5 gallons in and went to start.  Same thing, it turned over but did not fire.  I pushed the pedal to the floor and turned over for about 15-20 seconds and it sputtered then fired up.  Drove home fine and restarted several times that day as I did work on it and moved it around the garage.

I assumed it was out of gas and the gauge was wrong.

Today I started it and let it idle and warm up while I worked on other things (about 30 minutes).  Took it out to fill it up with gas and it was running and driving good.  It only took 2.5 to 3 gallons and was full, so I guess the gauge is correct.  Drove  about 1/4 mile up the road and stopped to make a left against heavy traffic, so was stopped for a couple of minutes.  It sputtered and cut off just like before.  It would turn over but not fire as before.  This time I floored the pedal and turned it over for a good 5-10 seconds and it fired up. 

I pulled into the lot and turn right around to head home it started to sputter again waiting to pull out so I kept it reved up until I got rolling again.  It drove fine home but started sputtering and stalled while pulling into my garage.  I was feathering the gas to get it parked right where I wanted.  Floored it, turned it over for a few seconds and it fired up again.  Left it in neutral and it ran smooth.

My guess is it seems to be flooding in drive while sitting still.  Is this a tea pot problem. Any suggestions.  My plan is to put a B manifold on with a new Holley or Edelbrock carb.  But I don't want to do that and have a fantom problem to chase down. Sorry for being long but I thaught a full description would help.

Pete

1. Is the choke closing fully when warmed up?

2. Do you use the electric pump all the time or only on start up? My T-pot used to do the same thing and i found the pump was forcing fuel past the float needle and flooding it. If i switched to mech pump after starting it ran fine.

I too replaced the TP with a more modern Holley (390) which also involved new manifold and later dist. But i never looked back.

Cheers

Richard

I also like to go out and know I will  not be stranded.  I am going to go through the system and swab the carb.  Can anyone tell me how to identify the distributor.  I know the car was restored extensively a few years back, but I do not know which distributor is in it at present.  The Mummert site says if you take the cap off you should see a spring right on top?  I did this and do not see a spring.  Do they have different caps?  If so I could match to what is on it now.

It has what is often referred to as the "straight" points set.

Above is the newer version with the "curved" points set - no springs showing on the upper plate. 

The fuel pump is on the frame at about the drivers door.  The fuel line enters the engine compartment just in front of the front wheel and angles up to the carb in between the fan and the block.   I have a clear filter at the inlet of the Holley and with the carb spacers it sets a good distance off the manifold.  Any ideas of routing or materials to prevent vapor lock?  The fuel line is metal up to the filter.  The previous owner split a rubber hose and wrapped the metal line with it.  The filter is a clear plastic one that I had new on the shelf.  It is about 1.5 inch diameter by about 2 inches long, so fairly large volume.

Also I checked the distributor and it is the 55.  What is the downside of running this with the new Holley?  Seemed to run fine when I was out and driving,  but the 390 was so much better than the tea pot.

Thanks in advance for any input. 

When I got the car back to the garage the filter would not fill, just a trickle flowed.  As soon as I relieved the pressure by disconnecting the line just before the filter then reconncecting, the filter filled right up with gas.  I had thought of the pickup in the tank as I had this problem on a Packard, but I think the gas flowing after the pressure release points more to a vapor problem at the engine end.

I have read some other threads and it was recommended to put a return line in to keep the fuel flowing.  Can anyone suggest the part and set up for this?  Do you know if a return line can be added without fabrication at the tank end? Any heat shielding ideas?

Also, the car ran smooth with good pickup with the carburetor right out of the box.  I was going to work on fine tuning then this problem came up.  I had planned to replace the distributor next weekend.  I figured that even though it is running better, the distributor may improve it even more.  Do you know if the loadomatic advance does not work at all with the newer carb or just not as well as the 57 style?

Chemist, i know you,ll fix it soon with this much help. just check fuel cap is vented or tank breather pipe is clear, try removing fuel cap soon as happens again and recheck. just to dismiss this as possible problem..

On your setup, do you have a line straight from the pump to the carb or an inline filter between? 

I have been thinking about this problem all evening.  Your comment on having the stock setup struck a nerve on what I have been thinking about.  My current setup has about 3X the stock length of a large diameter metal fuel line in the engine bay with about 50cc of filter, all sitting between the block and the radiator.  That is a relative large amount of fuel sitting at a low flow rate in the hot engine compartment (my problems have all ocured after driving a while and then the car sitting at idle for a few minutes). 

I am going to try your suggestions in the morning and also try to move back to a more stock configuration of fuel line.  I am also going to move the pump and put an inline filter outside of the engine bay. 

Aussiebill, I did pop the gas cap when I was having the problem to see if there was a vacuum in the tank.  There was not but I did not look at the cap closely.  I will also check the venting of the tank and the draw of gas from the tank if I can replicate the problem.

Thanks for the tips everyone.  I will let you know if I figure it out.  It may take a few days as  only do 1 thing at a time so I will know exactly what fixed it.

I added the fuel pressure gauge to the filter housing to show pressure on the carb side of the element. With the engine dead - it still shows 5 psi. Fan blast is "hot"air but cooler than what it takes to have vapor lock.

Its possible to do a pretty neat, factory looking installation of these "modifications" -so your car doesn't look too different from stock with the hood open. Mustangs used these fuel filters in the mid-sixties - painted gold with an "Autolite" sticker on them....

Now I will have to figure if it is the pump fading or a clog in the line.  It has the metal line screwwed into the bottom front og the tank.  Do these tanks have a tube inside that fitting, or is it just the fitting in the wall of the tank?  Is there a pickup sock inside?

I am also trying to decide if I should go back to the stock pump setup.  I prefer factory for most things.  Anyone have an opinion on supplier for the pump?  I have the dual action with the vacuum section for the wipers.

Any one know a source for a new 55 Mercury gas tank.  I have seen sources for a 55 Ford, since it did not list Mercury also, I assumed they were different.  If not, there is a shop that does lining within walking distance of my house.  They want about $300 to do an inside out coating called "Gas Tank Renu".  Looks good on the website and comes with a lifetime warranty, has anyone had it done?

I am thinking about stripping it all out and starting with new tank, lines and pump.  I am sick of chasing gremlims.

It is interesting working on a year and type I have never worked on before.  My previous classic experience is with Packard. 

for what it worth, the gas tank in my '56 had that renu done, it started coming off and I checked on the lifetime warranty..it was good only at the place that did the work and they were out of buiness so I decided to go with a new tank and If I remember right was like $200 including shipping but can't remember now where I got it..I you need I can look it up for you but I found several place in Hemmings that had tanks at a reasonable price.

I am now back to flow from the electric pump or vapor lock.  I researched vapor lock a little and found 2 conditions that may have contributed.  High altitude and winter blend gas in warm weather.  I had both, I am at high altitude and the gas was in it from March when I bought the car.  Problem occurred after I started driving it when it warmed up.  It appeared visibly to be vapor lock in the line at the carb.  I think the restarting by turning over for a long time, while also a fix for flooding, may have allowed the electric pump to overcome the vapor lock in the line.

I have read about installing the electric pump and keeping the mechanical also.  Anyone have an opinion?  My other idea was to go mechanical with the FE pump.  I am putting it all back together tonight with some new gas and will let you know.

Do you have any rubber hose ahead of the electric pump? I've see old hose develop a break on the inside that acts like a flapper valve. You can blow back through it easily but when fuel passes through it flops down and blocks the line! Rare, but it does happen. Chuck in NH

I took it out for a long test drive.  Let it sit a while at idle then drove again.  Then turned it off and let the heat sink into all the components an drove it out again.  All of these conditions are the same as those that caused the original stalls.  The car ran fine through all of them without a stall. 

I also checked the temps with an IR thermometer.  Running; 160 on the radiator, 200 on the engine, 140 on the fuel line to the carb, and 105 on the fuel line into the pump, 195 on the engine.  After sitting with engine off all these temps rose to the 195 mark but went back down when cranked up and running for a few minutes.

So whether it was the pump location, vapor lock or bad gas it seems to be fixed now.

I do believe I felt the issues with the distributor not advancing so that, the plugs and wires will be the next project.

Thanks for the help.  This thread as wells as several others here were very helpful.