car startup probs

The first step would be to let veryone know: Year, Make of vehicle, Model, Engine size. Then an easier to understand explanation of the problem wouldn't hurt either. I sure can't figure out what you just wrote above.

A 1949 Chevy straight 6?

"« Paul »" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@houston.rr.com:

Right! A flathead 6 running on injector fluid....

Right, a flathead. Try again.

Oh, I did not know that that engine was a flathead. Here all this time I thought it was ohv. Any idea what injector fluid is?

It sounds like the mechanic isn't any smarter than you are. Take it to a competent mechanic and let HIM diagnose the problem and fix it. Throwing parts at any card by asking a mechanic for the problem is stupid.

First off - proper punctuation may not be cool, but it makes your post a lot easier to read.

You're right in that you got taken by this "mechanic". If his work is like his advice, he's no mechanic. What you should do is take the car back to where you purchased it. Any dealer has to stand behind a purchase for some period of time - in every state. Private individuals have to also. Even if the car is sold "as is", as long as it's sold to with the expectation that the car is drivable, private individuals have to stand behind the sale, or take the car back and return your money. Talk to a lawyer about this. There's no point in spending any more of your money - money you should not have spent in the first place, trying to fix a problem that someone else is responsible for.

"« Paul »" wrote in news:458DA013.8DB97038 @houston.rr.com:

It wasn't a flathead on a 49. Maybe a 50 with a flathead 8. Injector Fluid=Prep H

Impossible. Chevy did not use a V-8 until 1955 and it was an OHV engine, IIRC it was 265 cubic inches. The 283 came out in '57 The Corvette used a mechanical fuel injection system on it.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:t3mjh.12745$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net:

Would you believe a 1950 Pontiac Cheftain with a straight 8?

Impossible. Chevy did not use a V-8 until 1955 and it was an OHV engine,

The first commonly implemented V8 for Chevrolet was in 1955, but my memory tells me I have seen a picture of a much earlier one, with open rocker arms.

I wont spend a lot of time on the search, but I know there was a Scripps Booth variant in the first quarter of the 20th century that was a V8. Chevrolet bought this enterprise as well as others in that time period.

Maybe someone else here knows the early history of the V8.

As you say, and AFAIK, the 1955 date is practically correct, although there might have been another design lurking far in the past.

That year was 1917 - saw a pix of that engine once in a promo book from GM on its 50th Anniversary. Very similar in design to the Cadillac V-8 of the same era.

1955 was the first year of the modern Chevrolet V-8. Small block engine orginally 265 CID, increased to 283 CID in 1957 and 327 CID in 1962, to 350 CID in 1969 and 400 CID in 1970.

In regular car line, the 283 was offered with Rochester mechanical fuel injection in 1957 and 1958 - FI continued through 1965 in the Corvette (discontinued when the 396 "Rat Motor" was introduced about

1/2 way through the 1965 model year). That system was a royal bitch to work on - a plumber's nightmare. FI returned (though electronic this time) in 1982.

Regards, Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA