DBRoadster

dr.feltersnatch, looks like you were right! Finally got around to tinkering again the other day now that the Utah snow has melted. per your suggestion, I had a guy tap on the box that the float is in while i tried to start it up. After a couple tries, he knoked it loose and the car came roaring back to life. just in time for spring driving. Really can't thank you guys enough for your help and suggestions. i guess one way is to post some pics! here is a link to my flickr page with some pics taken yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/119239257@N03/

alrighty i have some updates. finally had a free afternoon to work on it! thanks for your patience. I replaced the spark plugs and the wires (the wires weren't looking too hot), and charged the battery. I was happy to see that the car turned over immediately without any trouble or hesitation (big improvement!) BUT, the engine would start to run a little rough, and die pretty quickly without a lot of help with the choke and gas peddle. Every couple seconds it would backfire back through the front carb (yes, it's a dual side mounted SU carbs). After tinkering around for a bit, I shut it off and pulled the plugs again. The front two plugs were wet and caked in carbon, the back two were squeaky clean. The air filter is wet with gasoline, and again, I'm almost positive it's only backfiring through the front carb. SO, what are you thoughts? Are we close? (there were a couple seconds while I was testing it when it would run perfectly like it used to and it sounded like a dream! can't wait to take it out again!) Some of you suggested spraying ether/starter fluid into the carb and I haven't gotten around to it yet. Knowing what we do now, is this something i should still try? again, can't say how much i appreciate your help.

and no i haven't tried spraying yet. Are we thinking that its just flooded or does it sound like something else?

haha ok sounds good. won't be calling it an SRL. (For the sake of getting parts etc, what are some of the other mechanical differences between the two?) I took the air filter off but i'm not sure how to visually inspect the choke. I had my buddy pulling on the choke and I could see the wires pulling back and forth of the levers on the outside of the carb, but i'm guessing thats not what you mean? haha i warned you! I'm as a green as they get!

PREFACE: I'm looking for some help. Although I've always loved cars, I never had a chance to work on them till the past year. (I'm an american white boy but i grew up in tokyo with no garage so never had the chance.) I'm 24 now and starting a new hobbie, but I have a LOT (like, everything) to learn, especially with carb'ed cars, so if you would like to give a kid some mentoring, it would mean the world. PROBLEM: Here's whats going on. I bought a 69' SPL311 at the end of the summer. The motor has been stroked to a 2.0 liter and has a 5-speed tranny swap. (so essentially its an SRL now? were there any other big differences?) It ran like a top till just the other day. I'm in Utah and its starting to get a little brisk (50's) with the fall and the other day i tried to fire it up and it wouldn't turn over. (Time for an eye roller ->) I pumped the gas a couple times and it still struggled to get up. After a bit it started to sputter a bit and then started but it was running really rough. Hoping that it would kinda work itself out i took it around the block. It continued to run really rough and had minimal power. I barely made it back to the garage. I pulled the spark plugs and let it sit for a couple days. The spark plugs weren't looking too hot so I replaced them. Today its still not starting. I tried again and now the battery is almost dead. QUESTION: So my question is not only what do you think is wrong, but how many cardinal rules did I violate in my rookie attempts to fix the problem?