Starting Difficulty

Perfect. That is identical to what they show locally. This is just so strange. It has run both great cold and hot as well as crappy at both extremes. If the cylinders are loaded up, won't I see a spark issue as well on the tester? I also am not sure if I am losing the same cylinder(s) each time and need to verify. I thought I would just short each to gound to see if it is a specific one.

Thank you very much for all your comments also. The anticipation of getting this on the road is killing me. As I stated, it is a present for my father. We had exact model/year color back in the 70s so we both can't wait.
 
Wanted to post a photo of what I have
 

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This is sounding more like an ignition primary circuit problem, such as a repro switch contact touching the gas tank, or the distributor lower plate wire touching ground.

If you have an original popout switch, the wire inside the cable could be old with worn insulation and the wire grounding out inside the cable.
 
Need to ask, can this in anyway be a head gasket problem? My motor was rebuilt locally this past winter. I was getting seepage around the head bolts. That is now gone by retorqing and some head gasket sealant. New problem is the motor, once running seems to run hot. After less than 1/2 mile, water shoots from the overflow. I cleaned the radiator out by unhooking and soaking with drano for 15 minutes and then flushing. Flushed quite a bit of rust and I assume sealant out. Flushed the block with a hose and got some loose material out of that too. Now water appears clean each time flushed. When I shoot the head with IR thermometer I am seeing about 180-190 after idling for quite a while and 200-210 after short drive and radiator is pretty consistent across all tubes at about 186. I shot the spark plugs and see about 225 on the base of them. I see very little difference and all are within 5-10 degrees, top to bottom. It is an old radiator and possibly it is not tranfering heat well. I also am currently trying this without the hood on, so I don't know if that could have impact on cooling. Before I assume the radiator is the culprit, I want to make sure my rough running at startup is not connected to this via a head gasket issue. I just don't know enough to diagnose this.
 
Do a compression test...and post results. If you can start engine, run it at idle until warmed up, than repeat compression test and post results. Also, Check your oil to make sure you have no water/coolant mixed in. Another thing to look at is make sure you have a good seal between manifolds and block. If it is starting hard, you could spray starting fluid around manifold gasket while cranking to see if that helps starting. If so, you likely have a bad seal between manifolds/block.
 
I will do a compression test this week. It is the strangest thing. It runs horribly rough and then after 3-5 minutes of this, instantly the sound of the engine changes, it smoothes out and runs great. Considering the temperature issue, was wondering if they could be connected before I spend the money on a radiator. Thx!
 
You shouldn't have any crap coming out of the block on a freshly rebuilt motor as long as it was cleaned and tanked properly. A new or rebuilt radiator goes hand in hand with a new engine. To many overlook this fact and I feel the rebuilders don't stress it enough. It sounds like your feeding junk from a clogged radiator back through the block.
 
My complete ignorance on the new rebuild and old radiator. Seems so obvious now.

I am leaning toward the head gasket or intake gasket being an issue, just due to the dramatic change in engine sound when it starts to run well. The exhaust tone even seems to change. Even after turning off for about 30 minutes, the cycle starts all over until time/temp rises and then it smoothes out again. May have nothing to do with my temperature issue and may still end up with a radiator when it is all said and done. The water flow appears to be good through it with the consistent temps, row to row. I just am stumbling my way through everything it appears. If anyone knows of a good shop/home shop in upstate NY/northern PA, I would love to take it for professional help. Days are getting short here and with Hershey around the corner, winter will be here soon.
 
Do you have a fuse in the system? I have seen them get loose at the rivets and not make good contact. Bypass this system and see if it runs better.
 
yes to the fuse and it appears to not be an issue. I had jumpered across it just to be sure. Ignition/spark appear to be good. I appear to have a good spark at each cylinder. I did swap a new coil in for the ease of it with no difference. Thought it could be reacting to temperature change. I am going to do compression but need to get adapter for the larger plugs. May call a couple older repair shops to see if by any chance they have something but may be faster to just order adapter in the morning.

I did see a post about cooling difference in radiator. I am only seeing about 5 degrees top to bottom so I may not have sufficient cooling aside from my other issue or who knows, they may be connected.
 
sport coupe newbie said:
I am starting with the timing full upward. The first time couple of times I started it it ran excellent and idled fine. AS month later and it would barely fire and was not getting any gas in the carb bowl. It was a no-name replacement carb so I put a new zenith on it. It started right up cold that time and idled great for 15 minutes. I shut it down and restarted it fine. The next few times it acted like 1-2 cylinders were loading up and ran very rough with popping in the carb and exhaust. It eventually goes away and idles fine and sounds great. Last time it did that cold and took 3-5 minutes, dripped some gas out of the carb and then the sound completely changed and ideled great. Seems like points would not get better, Could it be as simple as idle mixture is way off? It is a new cap and rotor. Car is in cool basement/garage in upstate ny.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your cap and rotor is junk. Try swapping it out with a good used one
 
Your radiator needs help if you only see 5* cooling from top to bottom. Get it fixed before the engine gets ruined. You should see at least 20 to 30 degrees cooling from top to bottom.
 
My car runs rough when I don't start it for a few weeks so I need to let it run for a long time to clear it up. my problem is I live in a sauna (Okinawa Japan) but now that I know what the cause is I keep a can of contact cleaner around to clean moisture out of the cap before I start it. your carb drib sounds like a float adjustment problem.
 
Bad news. I just checked compression on this newly rebuilt motor (about 1-2 hrs total run time). I get 60-62 on cylinders 1, 2 and 4. ), Zero, Zip on cylinder 3. These were all at cold condition. Again, it runs real rough (go figure) and then after a few minutes runs fine. Is this a head gasket issue or a valve issue?
 
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