need help starting old gto after a year...

Hello people,

I'm starting my 72 gto up today, after literally about a year of sitting in front of my house. I installed a fresh optima in it, since the old die hard would not hold a charge. Anyway, the car is cranking...I cranked it cold for a good minute or so off and on to get some oil in the engine and to build the fuel pressure back up.

When I pumped the gas 3 times to actual start it, it started for a minute or two and died...and I let it die....because I noticed fuel leaking out of the carb. I took the filter element off the carb to see exactly where it was coming from. I cranked the car again...and it is actually shooting liquid fuel through the two main primaries (I guess you would call them primaries on a 850 holley double pumper carb) a few inches into the air as I crank the car. I am glad I noticed it, because the air filter element was hiding it at first but I was able to smell it.

Can anyone tell me why this is happening? Is it possible that the fuel in the car is too old to turn into a gas or something? Has something in the carb gone bad since I let it sit for so long? I literally had the thing rebuilt and tuned (and it ran great) right before I let it sit for so long.

Could use some help here if possible. I want to hear this beast roaring again...but the fact that is is spitting fuel at me is kind of scary. I think I could get it to turn over, and keep it running...but I need someone to say "this is sort of normal".

The float in the primary float bowl is not floating. It is stuck in the down position. The float is closes off the valve on the fuel inlet, when the fuel level reaches a certain level. If its stuck down, fuel will overfill the bowl and rush out wherever it can, through the main jets and eventually, the bowl vent.
Sometimes you can tap gently on the float bowl (front of the carb) whick might free it up. Otherwise you must remove the float bown and clean up the insides with carb cleaner.
BTW its quite common when fuel is left sitting in a carburetor and allowed to evaporate. Its the resudue left behind that gums things up.

Hey Magic,

Thanks for the reply. I got that big block rumbling the other day by letting some fresh fuel sit in the carb and by blasting it with carb cleaner, along with knocking on it with a rubber mallot. It was in fact the float stuck. I'm just glad I smelled it quickly and the block was ice cold.