Re: 65 Rambler - Gasoline Geyser - Help?!

["Jim Blair" <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A: Something else I missed! I have used various things over the years to 
help put a starter in place (especially on diesels) and a homemade sling 
attached to a chain, then up to a padded 2x4 across the fenders has worked a 
lot of the time, as well as a floorjack with blocks nailed together. I even 
used to find longer bolts with the same thread (for GM style that bolt 
upwards) to get it started by making them into studs, screwing them in, 
sliding the starter in place and using vise grips on the stud to keep it up 
while I started the other bolt (not the best idea, but I didn't have a 
threaded end at the time and 1 arm was in a cast so it had limited mobility)


From: Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: 65 Rambler - Gasoline Geyser - Help?!

Brian,

The cloud of gas you're seeing is from the distributor being in wrong.
Chances are, it's off 180 degrees. To see if that's the problem, just move
the plug wires on the sparks plugs. If that fixes it, you can either leave
it as-is or remove the distributor and turn the rotor 180 degrees. Also,
when the #1 cylinder is at TDC, both the rotor and vacuum advance can
should be roughly parallel to the engine block. Take a look at
http://www.mattsoldcars.com/RestoreAmerican/new_lines.shtml to see what my
distributor looks like.

Also, it is possible to put a new starter in by yourself. I've had to do it
twice on my American (first time was in a friend's driveway at night in 15
degree weather, second time was after I swapped transmissions). What I did
was fish the starter up from the bottom, put it in the tranny and start the
bottom bolt (easier said than done, but doable). Once the bottom bolt is
started, I went up top and put the top bolt in. If you can't hold the
starter with one hand and start a bolt with the other, you can also install
a stud in the bottom hole (top hole uses a special bolt) and use that
instead of a bolt. As a last resort, you can remove the intake and exhaust
manifolds and you'll then have plenty of room to work on it (a procedure to
re-install the manifolds can be found at
http://www.mattsoldcars.com/RestoreAmerican/loose_intake.shtml). You should
be able to R&R the manifolds in about two hours but doing that risks
snapping the exhaust manifold to pipe studs.


Matt