Anyone willing to shoot a video of cold-starting their '74?

K

kareembadr

Daily Driver
My car arrived on Wednesday (25 minutes before a classic Texas thunderstorm rolled through) with an empty gas tank. I put about 4 gallons of ethanol-free gas in the tank, fetching one gallon at a time from a nearby gas station.

I'm waiting for the rain to subside before I uncover the car to try again, but I had a hell of a time trying to start the car when it arrived. It *almost* turned over once, but didn't quite. Wasn't able to get any further than that before I got it covered and protected from the storm. Unclear if I flooded the engine, or quite the opposite and wasn't giving it enough gas.

Is anyone willing to send me a video of cold-starting their '74, with a manual choke? I know that every car and conditions are different, so it might not represent the ideal starting procedure for my particular car, but seeing how a few '74s start might give me a good starting point. Specifically, if I could see the choke position, timing and intensity of gas pedal pumps, and how long it cranks before turning over, that could help. I'm desperate to get this thing into the garage.

Thank you in advance.

(I'll post in a few days about why this ding-dong with less than zero experience with one of these cars wanted one.)

For reference, here are some photos of what I found delivered at my doorstep, without warning:
 

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You might be over thinking this. I used to own a 1974 and if I recall, choke full and pump the gas pedal three times, then hit the starter. Starting a car with a carburetor is different that today's cars for sure.
 
The tank was empty? Did they push it onto the truck?

You may want to pull the air cleaner cover off and pour a little gas into the throats of the carb. If the tank was empty, perhaps the carb bowls are empty as well. A can of carb cleaner and a can of starting fluid are nice to have on hand for a carb car. :) Carb life.

Once you get it going and drive the car regularly, it should start easier.
 
I realized in my sleep that the battery was likely dead, or close to dead. It cranked minimally and then stopped. I jumped it a bit, and was able to crank it...but still not starting.

Probably going to call a mobile mechanic a buddy knows to see if it's truly user error or, hopefully, something relatively trivial (dealer assured me it started and drove, and I do believe him)

It begins.
 
Are you getting fuel to the carb? One sign you have fuel will be seeing an accelerator pump jet spray when moving the carb linkage. I'm assuming that if you fully close the choke and pump and pedal a few times it should get it to fire at least. If there's fuel there I might start checking for spark.
 
Confirmed there’s fuel spraying into the carb, though I am not 100% sure about in the bowl of the carb. Almost got it to fire but not quite. Unsure about spark, but that’s where I’m going to point a mechanic if I can get a buddy to come take a look.
 
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If you get a pump jet you have fuel in the bowl. I'm guessing you might have a spark issue. Do you have a multimeter? What's your battery voltage?
 
I don't have a multimeter. Battery was very, very low, which seems odd considering it was running before it was shipped.

Could a low battery, but one still with enough juice to get the car to crank, cause it to not spark sufficiently (or at all) to actually start? Or if it has enough juice to crank, does that mean it would spark enough?

I’m leaving the battery connected to a 800mAh battery maintainer for a while to charge it up. Going to contact the seller to try to sort out why the battery was dead…
 
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I've owned a '74 for 48 years now and never had to use the choke. And I live in Illinois. I just pump the pedal 4 or 5 times and hold the gas pedal down about 1/4 and give it a spin. It does take a couple of pumps on the pedal once it fires off, and a bit of time to warm up before it can be driven though.
Make sure your battery is fully charged before you try to start it. Starters don't like being cranked on low voltage.
 
Got it to start. Verified that the battery is good, and fully charged, and it started with a little choke. Didn't put it in 1st and push my luck too much. Definitely need to get the hang of getting the engine warmed up and ready to drive, but I'm closer.

Thanks for all the advice! Onto my next issue...the frunk release...
 
Once you start it, for your first drive, let it warm up fully. Release the choke after a minute or two of idling, and if it idles without you needing to touch the gas pedal, just let it sit there and get warm. Once it has reached temp, and espeically good if the fans come on, the car will be simple to start if you stall it during your first drive - you won't need to use the choke or the gas pedal to start it once it is fully warmed up. Then you can get used to clutch and brakes and gears with one less thing to worry about.
 
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