1971 Chevrolet Truck Engine fire

13,000 MILES • 5.8L • V8 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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TOMTRUSSELL
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
1971 350 V-8 During cold start, smoke came from hood. Carburetor area was on fire. Put out in less than 2 minutes. While cleaning area, I found a plug wire going to the distributor, which had a split in it. On the side of the cap was a burnt are which tells me this was the cause of the fire. The plug wire's are not very old ( about 3 yrs. old). What could cause this? Sometimes on cold starts the engine would backfire. Your help would be greatly appreciated as I do not want this to happen again. The truck is garaged kept.
Oct 23, 2015 at 11:06 AM
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HMAC300
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 48,601 POSTS
tomuch fuel in carb plus a back fire could cause your problem. it may need to be rebuilt( carb) due to todays fuel with the alcohol . on a cold start see if choke plate is closing , just push gas pedal down and take off air cleaner and it should close if not then it's a choke problem like the spring is weak/broken choke leakage etc.
Oct 23, 2015 at 11:23 AM
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