Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1965 thunderbird wont start, empty soda bottle, distributer cap

Question
dear brad,
my brothers and i recently bought a 65 thunderbird and the engine and transmission was rebuilt according to the previous owner. we cleaned out the fuel lines, the carbeurator, replaced the fuel pump and replaced the fuel pump/carbeurator line. we also bought a new battery, spark plugs, spark plug wires and distributer cap. we checked that there is spark in the wires (my dad shocked himself on on of them) and there is gas getting to the carbeurator. we tred o start is and it turns over and nothing else happened. we asked my dads mechanic who is a very good one, and he gave us a throttle body and air-intake cleaner (which i think is called eether) to spray on the carbeurator, and it worked. the car jumped and ran for about 3 seconds, yet we could never get it going long enough to run on the actual gasoline. And each time we tried it the results were less and less. and we decided to stop in fear of flooding the engine. today we tried it and it wont even run on the cleaner fluid, and we dont know what the problem is.

Answer
Your mechanic may be a very good one for the newer fuel injected cars but it is not a good idea to use the type of spray that you have indicated on a carburetor. However what you say indicates that the engine should run. It is time to check a few things. With these types of start ups I like to use an auxiliary fuel supply. That is simply a five gallon gas can set on the floor near the car. Then disconnect the fuel inlet line that comes from the cars fuel tank at the fuel pump. Then use a length of flex fuel line to connect to the inlet of the fuel pump to the aux tank. This way you know that you have clean fresh fuel being pumped to the engine. Next, disconnect he fuel line from the carburetor and hold it into a plastic container like an empty soda bottle.  Remove the primary wires (the small ones) from the ignition coil so that the coil will not fire. Now crank the engine over for 30 seconds. The soda bottle(20 ounce) should be at least half full. If not the fuel pump is defective.
Reconnect the fuel line and crank the engine for 30 seconds without touching the gas pedal. Then hold the choke open and look down into the carburetor bore ith a flash light. Pump the gas pedal and watch for two streams of gas to be pumped out. If there is no squirts of fuel the carburetor needs service. If there is fuel being pumped out then reconnect the coil wires. Pull the coil wire out from the center of the distributor cap. Then hold the wire about 1/4 inch from a good metal surface and have some one crank the engine.The spark from the wire to the metal surface should be strong and a bright blue. If it is not the ignition needs servicing. Reconnect the coiland try to start the engine. It should run or at least burp. If this does not work let know and we will go from there.