I'm in a similar sinking boat..... And I'm about to give up and abandon the ship. I've about had it with not being able to get my motor to run right. I will never buy a car where someone else built the motor again. I've set the timig myself, sent the car out to have a pro look at it and it continues to run fine for a few weeks and then the same problems start all over again.

THe car should smoke the tires from a dead start, but it bogs down. Adjusting carb doesn't help. I set the timing up, and had a pro do the same after I doubted myself, and it will run fine, but under powered for a while and then after a few months the car won't idle without stalling and stalling when I'm sitting at a traffic light.

I've mentioned it before in the forums that I get a really strong "gas fume" smell from the exhaust that won't go away no matter how much I tried to lean it out. I'm starting to think that there maybe something internal in the motor causing all my problems.

I'm so frustrated that I think I just may be in over my head and it's time to hand it over to someone with the time, money and/or knowledge to fix it. I just don't enjoy this anymore.

Did you check if the timing is slipping? Sometimes the distributor bracket hold down doesn't work, allowing the distributor to move even when tightened as much as possible. If that's the case you can try adding a shim.

Did you check if the timing is slipping? Sometimes the distributor bracket hold down doesn't work, allowing the distributor to move even when tightened as much as possible. If that's the case you can try adding a shim.

Sounds like a carburation issue to me. No matter how sure you are that the carb is good, try another one. Also, make sure it's not getting hot and percolating (boiling the gas which then runs down the intake).

Don't give up the ship!

I haven't followed your previous posts, but from what you've said in this post, can I ask what carb you're running? Sounds like you're getting nozzle drip, or perhaps some mild vapor lock as mentioned earlier.

Let us know the details of the build, and I'm sure everyone on the site will offer to help.

Even the worst day with a classic Pontiac is better than the best day with a Toyota Camry.

Just when I was about to throw in the towel, my HPP Magazine came in and in the tech section someone described the same problems I'm having. I need to check my vacuum and vacuum advance. The guy in the magazine described the same stalling, gas smell and idling issues that I have.

How much vacuum pressure do I need to have the vacuum advance to function? I think I need to recurve the distributor and insure the advance isn't leaking.

See - have faith.

I bought one of those HEIs off ebay a few years ago and the adjustable vac can lasted about a year before the diaphram came loose inside and started leaking vacuum. I drove it like that for probably a couple of years. It always had a high speed miss that I just could not find. Took me forever to figure it out because it wasn't something you could see.

Seth, Holley or Rochester? Vaccum or manual advance? Bring it over !!!