Griff,
Speaking of hard starting...
My 79 Fleetwood (Dodge, 440) has always been hard to start if it sits more than a couple of days. After sitting that long, it may take 5 to 10 minutes to get it started. And it requires a lot of gas pedal pumping. And, no, it is not flooded. I know this because at first I was very concerned about flooding so I skimped on the gas pedal, but later I found that the more I pumped it, the sooner it started.
Thus I expect the carburator is empty, and I don't think there is a fuel pump, so manual pumping the gas pedal is the only solution. But you need a fully charged battery to get it started. Once is has been started, it starts right up for the next couple of days.
Is it possible that a new ballast resister would fix this? Or, is it lack of fuel? It would seem that if it was the ballast resistor that it would always be hard to start. Or, maybe it is both?
