I have a 74 Javelin with the original 304 sitting in it. Drove the car while in college for about two years before it gave out on me at that time I replaced spark plugs and wires as well as the distributor cap. Without time or resources to get it running, and refusing to sell, I just let it sit for about a year and some change. About three months ago I began replacing parts to get it running again: water pump, alternator, starter, starter solinoid, battery, thermostat, ignition switch, ignition coil and was able to keep it running for about a month. The first day I put it on the road however it cut out on me and hasn't turned over since. I replaced the fuel lines and fuel pump along with a good cleaning of the carb but have been unsuccessful in recessitating the vehicle. Any body with any ideas as to what I could be missing??? Thanks for any help you can give
First step would be to see if you have spark or not.
Yeah check the electrical.
When you say it won't turn over, do you mean just that, the starter won't make the engine spin or the looser sense, the engine rotates but won't run?
If it isn't turning over, do you have all the other functions available, like headlight, radio, gauges?
if yes, look for a bad solenoid, loose wires, bad ignition switch.
If no, assuming you've jumped it or switched batteries, look for the fuseable link. It's a piece of wire, fairly large, (1/4" or so) coming off the battery and feeding power to the ignition switch. In reality it's a heavy duty fuse designed as a last line of protection in case something shorts out. When it goes, the car won't start. If you do find it's gone bad, don't replace it with regular wire. Find what caused the problem first and then replace it with another fuseable link. Fire is a real concern if it's left out or jumpered with normal wire, no matter how much larger the replacement wire is.
If it's turning over but won't run, I agree with everyone else, check for spark. If you have spark, is it backfiring out the carb or the exhaust? Check the timing. I had two Javelins, back in the day. My 68 SST had a habit of eating the gear at the bottom of the distributor. Bad design. The second one, a 70 Donahue (wish I still had it) had the timing chain jump a tooth, again bad design. They put nylon on the cam and drive gears to quit them down but the heat caused it to fail and allowed the chain to slip. It ran, barely, but it was back firing out the exhaust. I was blessed with this problem, true story, on my way to traffic court to fight a speeding ticket. Got there late, the judge was not impressed.
good luck
mike
