Hello,
My name is James Zetts and I recently fulfilled a life long dream and purchased a 1969 Camaro. I reside in NC but purchased the car from Indiana.
Needless to say, it needs ....some work. For about 2 weeks I have been moving it in and out of my garage. My intent is to clean the clutter out of the garage so I have some room
to make minor repairs. I am not a mechanic. The best that I can tell is that it has a 427 cu ( year 1966 motor ). 4 speed with (I was told 342 ?? rear end ) .
Yesterday shortly after I started it, it began to miss and black smoke poured out of both exhausts. I panicked and shut it off. Then I checked the oil and that seemed ok. Everything looked ok.
I tried to restart it without success. I thought that the gas may have gone bad - syphoned that out and replaced. I cleaned the plugs and re-gaped . They were fouled with black soot.
My daughter tried to help me start the car through out the day. It finally did start and I sprayed about a 1/2 can of gumout in the carburator. It still missed badly and 'some' black smoke
continued to come out the exhaust. It stalled out. Won't start. Does anyone know what I should try next ? My sincere thank you in advance for your help.

 

Welcome, James, to the Club.
Congrats on the buy.
Black usually means too much fuel. Maybe a float stuck open due to debris between the needle and seat or a broken float never shutting off fuel flow when bowl gets full.
Some OE carbs, (Original Equipment) have a filter where the fuel line connects, or maybe an aftermarket filter in fuel line between pump and carb inlet.
Sometimes filter is missing.
If overfueling, there may be fuel coming out the vent tube in the air horn of carb - the bologna sliced tube.
You will need to dry plugs before starting again.

 

The most common issue would be the needle is stuck due to varnish. Sometime tapping the side of the carburetor with the handle of a screw drive will free it up. Other then that it will need taken a part clean it out, it not really a job for a beginner.

This could be cause by extended sitting, you should get the car checked out by a mechanic anyway. Cars that have sat for awhile are prone to other issues cause by sitting. Coolant and brake fluid for example should be drained and replaced. Belts and hose may need replaced. Brake lines should be checked alone with the brakes. The rubber hoses (brake/fuel) should be check very closely.

Since you have a 69 with a 66 engine there is no real way to know what you have there in terms or rear or trans or anything else. The great thing about chevy is everything is interchangeable and they have a huge aftermarket support the down side to that is you could have anything.

 

Hello Everett and Gorn
First, I apologize for the delay in my reply and I sincerely appreciate your help.. Just to recap. I got the car to start but black smokes comes out the exhaust and it misses bad. Stalls out at low RPM's.
I wire brushed the black soot fouled plugs and re-gapped .035
1, Do you think the issue could be with the points ? I haven't removed the distributor cap. Somewhat fearful , haven't done that in 30+ years and don't recall what I did in my youth. Also trying one thing at a time.
If you both agree that it is a carb issue. Do you think I should attempt to remove the screw and nut and (I believe this is where the needles are) clean and reinstall ? Please see pictures
Also, I live in a small town, new to area, and this may sound stupid but do I need to find an older mechanic - one familiar with 1969 cars. Todays cars seem very different to me and maybe young mechanics have never seen a carb. . I need to get this running. One last thing. I can't find gasoline without ethanol, should I add a fuel stabilizer . What would you use ?. Again, my sincere that you for your advice.
Green arrow pointing to what I am trying to describe
Close Up
same thing on back of carb
.

 

Quick lesson: Yes, the nut is used to raise/lower fuel level in bowl.
See screw on pass side? this is the level check point.
Once car s running, remove side screw and with a 5/8 inch wrench and 5/16 flat blade screwdriver, loosen screw then use wrench in nut to adjust fuel level.
On level ground, adjust nut, CW to raise, CCW to lower level in bowl so it barely drips out of hole.
Once level set, tighten top screw and replace side sight screw.
Another item to check, ensure choke plate is fully open when not in use.
Adjust cable as needed.
Also, pull choke fully closed when cold starting, then immediately after engine starts, push in choke to the point the engine smooths out at high idle.
Leave there until engine duns good with choke disabled, aka, pushed in,
Holley site may have more tuning adjustments

 

The 427 I had in my old '69 didn't like any choke at all, Holley double pumper carb. I didn't use it at all,just one pump and she'd usually fire up and idle.
Once in a while maybe a light tap once or twice on the gas pedal to keep it running if it was cold out. My car had a pretty lumpy solid lifter cam though that required the idle set a bit high. If it was an auto choke I'd say sounds like the choke pull off is bad but that looks like a manual choke from what I can see. I'm thinking stuck floats more likely than out of adjustment, if the car sat any length of time without proper storage procedures the carb is probably all gummed up inside. It's probably going to need a rebuild kit.At the very least you might want to pull it off and spray as much carb cleaner into as many places as you can or soak it in a can of carb cleaner for a few hours.

 

Thanks Guys.
I will tap the entire exterior of the carb with a screwdriver to maybe undo a stuck float
How can I determine what carb this is, 650, 750, etc. ? I see no numbers. Should I physically measure it's size ?
I might take the carb off soak the entire thing in carb cleaner and pray. Any suggestions on what brand cleaner to use ? That way the adjustments would not be changed.
There is no manual choke inside the car.
There is an inline gas filter ( I replaced) between the fuel pump and the carb but maybe I should remove the fuel line that goes to 2 parts of the carb and see if there are filters there.
Do you think I should WD40 some of the parts around the black choke linkage area ?
I wish I knew more about carbs. Does all gas contain ethanol. I can't find any gas stations that just offer 100% gas

 

is the carburetor tight to the intake? vacuum leak?
you can also just remove the sight screw with the engine off and cold. if gas pours out you know you have a float adjustment problem. you should have to bounce the fender lightly to see gas splash out the hole
I don't think you will gain any thing by soaking the whole carb.
just use 92-93 octane gas and don't worry
can you post a picture of the plugs after the engine has tried to run?

 

In determining carb application, look at the front wall of air horn and there will be a LIST XXXX number.
This number identifies model of carb, 4160, secondary metering plate inside of bowl.
This LIST number will also align to CFM of carb.
Date code is also stamped there.
If no choke cable, pull laver on side to open choke plate.
Invest in a choke cable for better cold starting.
Once installed, press pedal to floor and hold, pull choke cable out to close choke, release pedal as this action sets fast idle, 1400-1600 rpm, start engine, then slowly push in cable until engine runs smoothly.
Once warm, then push in choke cable to open choke and drive normally.
With choke plate in present position shown, engine is running rich, sooty plugs.

 

If that is a manual choke and no cable is connected it could get sucked shut when the engine starts. I never used mine so I just got a short piece of wire and used it to lock it in the open position. If that butterfly gets closed with the engine running you'll get the exact symptoms you described. Drag racers often remove the choke butterfly and mill the choke horn off the carb completely.