My Holley is Flooding

[ClassicCar.com]

I own a 1968 Camaro. The car had previously been sitting at a relative's house for about six years before I bought it, but it was in good enough condition to drive home. It is a 327, and has a Holley intake manifold, and a Holley Economaster model #7456 carburetor installed on it. It had problems at idle, and slow speeds because fuel kept leaking in small amounts from the venturis in the primary barrels. I recently bought a rebuilt identical carb off of e-bay, and installed it. When I first started it up it idled perfectly, and didn't even run rough when the choke was all the way in. When I took it for a test drive, and stopped to turn around, the engine cut out. When I tried to start it again it took a long time, and when I looked into the carb fuel was dripping in large amounts from the upper venturis in both the primary AND secondary barrels, and fuel actually started to puddle up down on the throttle valves. I managed to drive it home, but it ran very rough, and cut out at stops. I'm thinking it could be because of debris in the needle and seat, but since the fuel is contained in the actual casting and the carburetor doesn't have fuel bowls, or floats (I think), I'm not sure what could be plugged, or how I would go about checking for clogs. If anyone has any information on the diagnosis, or repair on this specific model it would be appreciated.

Thanks

[ClassicCar.com]

Sounds like your float level has gone off spec. Possably the float has a hole in it and it has filled with fuel(sunk). Or maybe the retainer that holds the float leaver arm has come off. or it could be the float is stuck in a possiton that allows the needle valve not to close. Or it could be some thing as simple as a poorly done rebuild and just needs it to be properly.

[ClassicCar.com]

I was thinking that could be a possibility, but I read somewhere that the Holley Economaster doesn't use floats, so I wasn't sure whether that was true or not. I tried blowing compressed air into the idle needle valve ports, and put a fuel filter between the fuel pump and the carburetor, because of the suspicion of clogs. When I started it this time it ran great for about a minute, and then started leaking profusely again. There was a lot of debris in the clear view filter. The seller said it was professionally rebuilt too, so I don't think it would be faulty from the start, but I just don't know. Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it.

Thanks

[EN_Peters]

After looking into it, the carburetor would have to have a float mechanism of some sort, because I can't tink of what else would be used to regulate the fuel to the carb. Now to check the float.

[MikeKy]

EN, are you using a fuel filter? Perhaps there is dirt and grit in the tank and your pulling it into the carb and cloging the needle valve and causing the carb to flood? Just another option.

[EN_Peters]

I've found the problem. When opening the fuel bowl the float must have gotten ajar during shipping. It was out of its grooves making it inoperable (obviously), so you guys were right. Thanks a lot, it's great to have a forum like this with such easy access to good info. Thanks again.