I have a 68 Camaro. It is a base model, originally a l6 250. I believe it had a manual tranmission based on the console. Prior to my purchase, the 250 was replaced with a 327 and a Muncie 4 speed was swapped in. The car used to live in Nebraska but has now found its way to me in Arizona. When I got it, the car started and ran but idled really rough and was back firing. It also produced such a strong gas smelling exhaust that you could smell it for easily 30 minutes after turning off the car.

My first order of business was to adjust the Carter 9625 carb. I noticed that the choke was always wide open. It didnt matter if the car was cold or not. Granted, it is 70 deg here, but I figured the choke should be at least mostly closed when the car is cold. I adjusted the choke and set the mixture screws about 2.5 turns out and the car seemed to do much better. The backfiring stopped and the idle was much smoother. Yesterday I was ready to hook up my vacuum gauage and start doing a little fine tunning. I started the car (I think it started on the 3rd try) and I let it get up to temperature. I watched the choke slowly open. Once fully open, the car sputtered a bit and died. I started it back up with no trouble and it ran for a few minutes and then died. I have not been able to get it started since. I feel like the battery is about to die from so many unsuccessful attempts to start it (brand new battery).

One other thing for the sake of being thorough, I received the car with just over 1/4 tank of gas (assuming the gauge is correct). Other than driving it around the block 1 time, it has only been consuming gas while idling in my driveway. A couple of days ago, it got down to about an 1/8 of a tank and I addded about 3 gallons of 87 octane.
I've been going over my notes and thinking about what I've done. I feel like the engine should only be running much stronger after what I've done yet here I am with car that wont start and not sure where to start to make progress. If anyone in this forum can make some suggestions on where to go from here I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

 

have you tried dumping a touch of gas in the carb?

 

Visit other forums you've entered for those suggestions given.
As I suggested there, you might add 91 octane, min, as mine will not run on 87.
Also, externally charge battery in keeping it charged for more power in supplying other circuits during cranking.
Engine needs three things to run, air, plenty of it if no manifold leaks, gas, might add some to the carb through the vent tube in airhorn, and spark, at the right time, checking with timing light, or, set timing marks to where timing should be and monitor ohmmeter reading referenced to ground and other lead on coil - terminal.
Turn dist counterclockwise until ohmmeter goes to infinity, stop and clamp dist body.

 

What is the point of the carter? I don't think that is correct for the year? Carter carbs are terrible. I had one on a 70 charger. There is no comparison to a modern Holley avenger. You would have to pay a Carter expert hours of tweaking to get with 90% for what an avenger would do for your car out of the box.

I used to get the cars in that DIY and in some cases mechanic tried to adjust the carb to fix an issue. Half the time there was something else wrong like the vacuum advance or a vacuum leak and once that was fixed you just put everything back to factory settings. The other half of the time there was a problems that needed repairs in the carb and then we set every back to factory settings.

If you want the set a choke properly you need a procedure and a choke angle gage.

I have sent days tweaking the old school Holley's. I installed a 670 avenger on my 67 10 years ago and have not touched it an adjustment on it yet.

CRG Research Report - 1967-1969 Camaro Carburetors

 

OP I would first start by putting your battery on an external charger. Don't waste your time messing around with a low battery.
What type of distributor setup do you have on your car?
Once the battery is charged I would either spray a little starting fluid or a little gas down the carb and try to start it, what happened?
If the car starts what speed is it idling at?

 

Thank you all for your suggestions and insight, I really appreciate them.

I tried starting fluid and it made no difference. This led me to believe it was time to focus somewhere other than the carb. I reseated the cable at the coil and distributor cap. I disconnected the spark plug wire for cylinder 1 and connected my spark tester. I cranked the engine and was actually surprised to see spark. I reconnected the plug wire and cranked the engine. It started. So, it seems spark was my issue all along though I really don't understand why. But, I'll take my win and move on.

Happy New Year!!

 

kool, easy fixes are always good. sounds like a bad connection or connector.

 

May have been some moisture in the distributer , not a bad idea to spray a little WD40 in there to displace any moisture. If it's points fired you may also have a condenser going bad . I'd can the points ignition and swap in an HEI myself, very easy to do and much more reliable.

 

Well good, hope it keeps on going for ya. I also dumped the points years ago for a pertronix setup in my 65 Chevelle wagon and was glad I did. It was so much more responsive.