starting and cooling

[Omathisen]

Hi,
Hopefully there is somone who has some ideas and can point me in the right direction. I have an ERA with a 351, built in 96, has 8,000 miles.

#1: I have not had much time to run it this year and it has become increasingly difficult to start. Only way this weekend, was to squirt a generous amount of starting fluid into the carburator after I let it sit for about four hours after giving up. I also recharged the battery to make sure it was 100%. Before that, it just turned, but would not fire.
Also after it was running for about 3-4 minutes, it suddenly shut down and would not fire again. Suspected culprits: bad gas (it has been in the car a few months and I added fuel stabilizer), battery or what? Any ideas would be appreciated.

#2: I also discovered that the expansion tank for the coolant was empty. It has always been at a constant half -- to the point where I sometimes forget to check it. So I filled it up, and when I got the car started (before it shut down), it warmed up much faster than usual. It was a hot day but I have not seen the car warm up that fast ever. Within minutes it was at 180 degrees. It usually take 5-6 minutes to get to 140, which is usually my take off point. And it takes a while before the needle moves at all. How did I mysteriously lose the coolant? Is it the usual suspect, the thermostat? Even though the car was heating up, the hose to the radiator was still cool - so no coolant was apparently passing through. . . No obvious sign of leakage anywhere.
Again, would appreciate any useful ideas.

Thanks.
OMathisen
ERA 427