Classic/Antique Car Repair: 34 ford flathead, proper polarity, vacuum leak

Question
QUESTION: a customer hooked up his battery in reverse(pos, ground) and now i cant get it to run smooth. checked and gapped points,new plugs. runs very erratic and wont tke fuel.im stumped?any help will be appreciated

ANSWER: A 34 Ford should be connected POS ground. If you reversed it reconnect POS ground and see what happens. Then let me know and we will go from there.

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QUESTION: have hooked to proper polarity.have checked a few things today.have checked timing ,getting weak spark to plug iassume if getting spark it shold fire.when it does start it will only idle at very low rpm and willnot take any fuel.has a stromberg carb. mabbe i should be looking towards the fuel system?surges at idle like a massive vacuam leak but have check and no vacuam leak.does the manifold on a flathead segragate flow to each barrel of the carb,thank you

Answer
The manifold is segrigated with only minor cross over equalizing ports. If there is  vacuum leak it can be found by spraying carburetor cleaner around all the possible vacuum leak places. When you hit the leak the engine will smooth out. I have had a slew of these carburetors in my shop recently that have suffered from the ethanol in the fuel. I run a carburetor rebuild shop. Mac's Fordparts sells excellent OH kits for these carburetors.