Just to clarify, the Weber does have an electric choke and the stock carb had a water choke. The power source I used for the electric choke came from the connection I circled in yellow in the photo of the stock carb. I cut that off, and used a female spade to connect it with the Weber choke.

It was not related to the part I posted earlier that I accidentally removed. I still don't know what that did but I circled it's original location in red.

 

Is your battery on the passenger side?

 

Yes it is!

 

Huh!

Well, whether we figure out what that part is or not, I'm glad you got it running.

 

I believe the battery is on the passenger side up until the 3.0s came into production.

 

I've had a 78, 83, 86, 87, and 92, all "R" series, and all had the battery on the driver side. Well...the 78 was a motorhome so it had a battery on both sides. Now that I think of it, it may have been the "coach" battery on the driver side, truck battery on the passenger side. So maybe it was a 20R thing.

 

My battery is on the passenger side on my 82.

 

Well I guess that shows what I know...

My 78 was the only one.

 

Are you sure?

Every "R" series USA specification I have seen had the battery in the passenger (right) side of the vehicle unless someone had swapped the battery and intake around as a modification.

 

Well yes, I was sure until now. I wish I could go back & look at photos of my engines. The 83 is the only one I have photos for but I'm not seeing any of the engine compartment with the battery right now.

I guess it could be that since I sold the 83 and bought a motorhome with batteries on both sides, then a Subaru, then my 98, it didn't look odd to me that it was on the driver side and I just went on my way thinking that's where they've always been.

Sorry about that!

 

Mystery solved ! What you removed was the Fuel Pump Resistor. By disconnecting it you basically broke the electrical connection to your electric fuel pump. No power, no pump, no fuel. I can only guess that the residual manifold vacuum drew some fuel up from the tank after your short start & die exercises, after letting it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Good news is that your intake side is tight!

In trucks with the 20R & in-tank electric fuel pump, they all have this resistor. It's usually located in the engine compartment on top of the passenger side wheel-well. The resistors purpose is to drop the voltage to the fuel pump, to cut down or eliminate pump "whine" or noise, and to extend the life of the pump (important considering you have to drop the tank to change one out!) It takes the usual 13.8 volts & reduces it to just under 10 volts (9.857 to be exact). The fuel pump is designed to provide the correct fuel pressure down to at least 9 volts, which stock is between 3 & 4 PSI. Everyone suggests you install a pressure regulator when putting in the Weber because that carb is very sensitive to fuel pressure; anything much over 3 PSI & it overcomes the float, needle & seat, flooding it out.

My '78 has this stock setup & my fuel pump resistor was going bad, that's how I found out about all this. Resistors turns excess voltage into heat & over time can put the resistor "out of spec", causing it to resist too much, dropping voltage to a point where it's not sufficient. The OEM resistor was round, ceramic & rated for 1.4 Ohms @ 15 Watts. Testing with a hairdryer to heat it up showed it at 2.2 Ohms hot; too much resistance, yield 6.25 volts to fuel pump. No bueno.

I found a power resistor at my local electronics surplus shop for $2. It's 1.4 Ohms, 20 Watts & has a finned aluminum heat sink on it to dissipate the heat. The extra wattage rating & heat sink will help it live a long time. I unsoldered the old resistor, tucked the new one into the steel holder (as seen in Sizzle Chest's photo), soldered it up & hooked it back up. Works like a charm.