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Hi Guys
I think I finally found my hard to start when warmed up problem. Unless the engine temp is below the center mark on the gage, it will not fire. The old owner put a aluminum heat shield between the engine and carb. I've even tried a piece of asbestos there, but no help.
Today I checked and my heat riser is rusted in place. It will not move even 1/16 inch. I have soaked it in WD-40 tonight with hopes of it loosening up. I don't know if it is in the open or closed position. Any thoughts out there?

Ron,
My '38 also doesn't like to start when hot so any advice forthcoming will be watched with interest. I haven't checked the working of my heat riser but will do so on the weekend.

WD40 is useless in freeing rusty parts. Buy a can of PB Blaster and spray it liberally every day for a week. Test the bolts/nuts every day. Hopefully they will free up.

Randy Thanks for the info - I'll track down a can today. WD-40 was all I had around the garage and figured it couldn't hurt. I use to use Liquid Wrench, but never had much luck with it either.
Mal - Good Luck with yours. It can be a frustrating problem. If ya go out for a quick tube of Ale, you can get plastered waiting for the car to start.
Hmmmm is that a good thing or a bad thing?

If your car is hard to start when hot, first thing I'd check is to see if there is fuel in the float chamber (just peek down the venturi and actuate the accelerator pump)and the choke is open. If yes, though you should have a free or at least frozen in the open position heat riser, I'd next suspect a deteriorating coil. Heat riser is open when the counterweight is in the down position. BTW, you didn't say what engine you had but a heat shield between the manifolds and carburetor is correct for most if not all 356 engines.

Put all of the snake oil on it u want to. But when u get ready to free it up use engine oil. I'm not familiar with the streight 8 heat riser but they are all pretty mush the same.

Take a standard ball peen hammer and a drift and LIGHTLY drive on the end of the shaft parallel to the shaft from side-to side or end to end. DO NOT hammer on the cast iron weight as a lever!!!! It WILL break off. Work the shaft backand forth parallel to the shaft and twist the weight with your hand.

If it's stuck real hard u mite have to heat the bushing area in the housing around the shaft ends with a torch. Driving the shaft back and forth as described above has always worked for me.

Owen Dyneto Thanks for responding. My engine is a 282 straight 8. I've checked the fuel flow in the carb, no problem there. The former owner did a lot of strange things to the car. The carb has a auto choke but he didn't have the tube from the exhaust manifold on, so to start it when cold he had the mixture screws opened way to rich. I fixed that by installing a new tube and re-adjusted the mixture and auto choke but only drove it on short trips under 2 miles. The problem seemed solved. But now that I'm stretching its legs farther the problem is back. Summer is here so it warms up faster. I've had the block,radiator, and head flushed, and installed a 5 bladed flex fan. The overheating problem is gone completely.
I started noticing the engine stumbling on longer (5 mile) trips and have to wait till it cools down before it will fire up. After it warms up, there seems to be a loss of power. 35 MPH is top speed. While when its still cool it will exceed 55 MPH. I've checked the accuracy of the dash gage and it Ok. I have also tinkered with the timing and think its as good as I can get it without a scope. Unfortunately there are no shops in my area with mechanics that will tune it up. They either don't know how or can't make enough money fast enough to check it out. By elimination last night I discovered the heat riser problem. I don't know why it took me so long to consider it, but thats where I am now.

Thanks Packard V8 I'll let it soak a few days and then try your hammer solution. I'm not in a rush, its my hobby car. It keeps my behind off the couch and away from the TV. Is there a bushing on both sides of the housing or only on the spring side?

I have ran mine (V8s) wired open, year round for years. Also, recently installed 1.375" freeze plugs in the intake manifold crossover ports to totally block the heat. So far, I cannot tell any difference.

In other words, if you can't get yours unstuck, just gut it. Even if you get it unstuck, wiring it open may not be a bad idea either.

Joe H