So I took all your advise in the other thread that I started (about forgetting the flywheel step) and I successfully got everything put back together. You can guess my excitement when she fired up. She idled fine on her own. I decided to back her up and drive her down the road a ways. well about 400 ft from my shop I lost all power. now when I start her up I have to keep my foot floored on the pedal to keep her idling. What did I do and how do I fix it?

 

Sounds like a fuel problem. Do you have gas and is it getting to the carb?

 

yeah I can see fuel spitting out of the little jets in the carb when i play with the throttle linkage. Is that supposed to happen?

 

Yes, and they should be solid streams of fuel. You shouldn't see air mixed in with it.

The only time my truck has left me stranded was a couple hundred feet down my driveway, bad mechanical fuel pump. The only way I could keep it running was by pumping the gas until the fuel bowl was empty.

 

The streams seem to be pretty steady. I am planning on rebuilding the carb soon. could something be blocked inside? do you think timing could be an issue? what does the engine sound like when it is out of time?

 

If it idled fine I would say that it's not a timing issue.

The neat thing about carbs is that when the bowl is full it will still inject gas into the intake. It's when the gas runs out in the bowl and your fuel pump can't provide more that the truck stops.

My truck did this when I had a split in my fuel hose by the tank at the fitting. The reason it didn't occur to me at first was that it wasn't leaking. What was happening was it was creating a break in the vacuum so I had no suction. After replacing the fuel pump for the third time with the same results I found this to be the problem. You'll want to check all your hoses/lines for any cracks or softness. It could be, also, that when your pump is engaged the hose is collapsing on itself restricting fuel to the pump and carb.

 

Check / replace fuel filters if you haven't for a while.

Mechanical or electric fuel pump? If electrical, check for power.

Is it flooding with too much gas?

 

Well I checked my fuel filter and it is full. I checked the line from filter to carb and it was fine as well. If the fuel filter is full then that would mean that my pump is working right? How do I know if i have flooded it?

 

I it is blowing black smoke it is very rich. And having to keep your foot to the floor might mean the choke is on full and the only thing taking it off is the kicker when you floor it.

And if the fuel filter is full of gas it sounds like you have enough gas.

 

I'm not very versed on automobile carbs. how would I go about taking the choke off?

 

You don't need to take it off, physically, just make sure it is coming open - which is frequently called "off". Right above the squirter things where you see gas coming out is the choke's plate on a shaft. If it is closed, meaning you can't see into the carb, then you have a problem as it should open up as the engine warms up.

 

I'll have to take a look at it again. I want to say that it is open, at least enough for me to see the two jets.