So the back story to the picture is that myself and my oldest brother flew into Las Vegas, bought a 1968 Charger from a dealer on Freemont street and started driving home to Pickering. Seemed like a great idea until we got across the hoover dam and the 383 quits. I pull the coil wire and crank it over, good spark. Check for fuel in the carb, no problem there. Its cranking evenly so I know its not the timing chain. I reach in the trunk, grab a water (cause its 110) and by the time I take a few sips the car starts and runs perfect for a few hours and quits again. What do you think was the issue? While we are at it, what critical mistake did I make in diagnosis that would have saved me a bunch of grief? This is kind of an encyclopedia brown car story, all the clues are there but I'll answer all questions. I found it in Michigan and boy was my face red!
The accelerator pump was showing strong squirt but whoever had the car before us must have thought the same thing as you. That may have been why he sold it so cheap. There was a heat dissipation plate installed under carb and the mechanical fuel pump was replaced with an electric unit.
You got spark, and you got fuel. The only thing else you need for fire is oxygen. Dirty filter maybe, or the thing was jetted too rich that it wouldn't run in the warm air.
That was my thought too Supernash. My mistake was checking spark at the coil (cause the manifolds were so hot). It turned out, some genius installed a Ford cap (I think) on it and the height was different. It would run fine till the rotor tang heated up and distorted from the spark snapping in the cap. When it cooled off it would fire right up. The penny dropped when the coil overheated and puked oil all over the intake pan. I felt pretty dumb! If only I checked spark at the plug wire I would have nailed it right off and enjoyed the trip a lot more. Actually, it was pretty good times anyway. Got to "Stand on the Corner in Winslow Arizona". There is actually a statue of Don Henley there.
Toomuchjunk, it was about 5 years back but trip reviews from yesterday show its still there. Its right on Route 66 and worth the trip for sure. Check attached pic. No comments on my sister in law please!
Anyone care to name the TV show this truck was from? It was one of the original ones used in the series. The guy who owns it is an outstanding "car guy".
Anyone care to name the TV show this truck was from? It was one of the original ones used in the series. The guy who owns it is an outstanding "car guy".
"Movin On" with Sonny and Will
Would likely have missed the cap, never knew they would interchange.
We have a winner! When I was 12, I saw the show and I was mesmerized. I met Paul on the internet on a Sunday and he said I could come down and get a pic as long as I arrived before Monday evening. Took off alone, in the Challenger to northern Minnesota. He took me out on the interstate in the truck, with the Movin On theme blasting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSzdv5PBamE) on the sound system and it was like I was 12 years old again. You guys might get it, non car people sure don't.
My elation was short lived, on the way back, I stopped in Chicago to get a pic of my car in front of Joliet prison (opening scene of the Blues Brothers). I had no idea it is a federal offense to take pictures of a prison without permission? Anyway, I take a couple of shots and all hell breaks loose with guards on the wall using bullhorns, telling me to remain by my vehicle. I decided to roll the dice and make a run for the Indiana state line. I was alone, a tad terrified, the GPS was screaming directions and the tape deck was playing "She Caught the Katey". Hindsight, the guards were probably just having fun at my expense, right? Cool pic though. Anybody bored of the stories yet? Don't want to be "that guy".
I'm not 100% sure it was a ford cap, someone suggested it was a points cap on an electronic ignition distributor? I worked at Paul Wilisons, Downsview, and Mills & Hadwin and I never heard of such a thing, but by that time everything was electronic or Lean Burn. I should have kept the cap as a trophy to my incompetence.
