Ted thanks for your expertise. I'm thinking this 1980 is a very odd beast.

I just swapped carbs. They both pull full manifold vacuum at the vacuum advance port. I looked at the carb and the hole for that port is under the throttle plate. Anyway I blocked the vacuum advance, set the timing to +12 and the idle to 600 rpm. Plugged the advance back into the pod and I'm at about +30 at idle and 750 rpm. Running decent actually. Soon I'll be done with this shenanigans and have the Offy intake and Eddy 500.

Just have to pass emissions one more time. What is the best way to set the idle mixture screw? I've played with it extensively over the last few days both peaking the vacuum reading and RPMs.

I go for best/peak vacuum, then back down the rpms to the manual call out. My fender sticker shows 750 rpm when setting the timing. No vacuum at the ported fitting. If I let it creep up to 800 rpm I will see 2". Open it a little more and the vacuum comes on like gang busters....

I have mine at 750 rpm at idle and it shows 19" vacuum on my gauge with a tired stock engine with a leaky stock steel shim intake gasket, in gear it's about 650 and steady showing a solid 17" hot.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Just rechecked every vacuum line and hose under the hood and made sure everything was where it should be. And that is a lot. Reconnected the OSAC and now the advance at idle is +22 or so. Came down 10 degrees. Set the idle mixture again, ended up with 690 rpm and 16.5 in. at idle. Went for a spin and I think she's running pretty close to showroom floor.

I do love the way this motor sounds when it winds out.

Drove to work this morning. 10 miles of stop and go. Once she warmed up, she ran beautifully! Not noticing the stumbling at idle anymore, but not sure if it's cured. Same with the hesitation off idle, seems to be gone. woohoo!

The bad: she acted like a pig when cold. Surging, stalling, stumbling. No fast idle. Guess I got some adjusting to do. I did see the flapper on the air cleaner work yesterday for the first time. Thanks for help all.

I know...a little wordy but I am pretty ecstatic.

Pulled the carb off last night and adjusted the fast idle cam position, choke unloader, choke vacuum kick and fast idle speed according to this...
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repair ... 528007fc53

Then set my alarm early this morning. About 29 degrees out. Pulled the top of the air cleaner so I could watch what transpired. Then I started Shirley . She started right up, the choke closed fully (.080" gap), the air cleaner flap closed and fast idle kicked in. Couldn't see if the fast idle was in the correct detent position but it seemed to be working. Checked the choke every 5 minutes and it was slowly opening. When I left for work the choke was almost fully open and no more fast idle. Ran great to work. The choke was fully open when I arrived after a 10 mile jaunt!!!!!!!!!

Ready to move on to other issues now. At least I think so.

ps
greased the brake booster grommet and ordered the right one online.

it`s great when a plan come together, good job

Thanks, been spending a lot of time reading old threads on this forum and A bodies only too. Maybe I earned a break but it was probably a healthy dose of luck in all reality. Sure is nice to be able to drive my truck around town and not worry too much about her acting up. Gonna get my courage up soon and take a drive longer than 10 miles.

Crap!, she started bucking on the way home from work. Happened at like 35 mph about where the trans likes to lockup. I shifted to 2nd for awhile and all was well and it didn't happen again. But bucking seriously sucks. Felt ignition based but what do I know...I mean the motor was dying for a split second on and off when she did it. I have the MSD red coil in there and I think I'll put the stocker back in for a test.

a bad coil will usually shut down and after it cools fire right up. do you have the egr valve working on this engine or is it blocked? also does the fuel filter have the return line to the tank?

EGR is all stock but that doesn't mean its working right. You thinking it may be the EGR Terry? I have EGR on my 1995 Grand Cherokee and it is pretty simple, just a transducer and a valve. I was amazed at how many EGR components are on this truck.

No return line.

if the egr is carbon-up or sticking it could be causing a lean condition.just disconnecting the hose might not elimitnate the egr valve,try remove it and clean the valve seat. you can also make a block off gasket or put the valve on backwards just to block the passage to see if that is your problem.

Thanks, I will install it backwards this weekend. Also going to put the stock coil back and replace the ballast resistor. Been reading this thread below...I hope its not the torque converter.
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... ht=bucking

if you think you have a lockup converter thats hanging up, try changing the filter and fluid first could just be a sticky valve in the valve body. most new trans are lockup but i have never came accross this.

Update..

Pulled the EGR valve, cleaned it and verified operation. Put it back with a new gasket.

Changed the trans fluid and filter.

Replaced the ballast resistor. It had cracks in the material, so it needed it no matter what.

Put another new coil in, Blue Streak. Put spacers on all the ignition wires so they don't touch anything. Ignition module and distributor got replaced awhile ago.

Replaced the brake vacuum check valve and grommet with new ones.

Checked the fuel pressure. SOLID 4 psi.

She seems to run decent, but I am pulling full manifold vacuum on the advance port. Timing is way too advanced at ilde. Going home tonite and finding out why.

Classic symptoms of a failed power brake booster.

It sounds like you have several problems going on. (1) a failed power brake booster that has an internal leak when the brakes are applied; (2) too much timing advance at idle due to the vacuum advance being connected to the wrong port on the carb; (3) very misadjusted curb idle and curb mixture settings to mask the other problems.

Try this:

(1) disconnect and plug the power brake booster hose from the booster
(2) disconnect and plug the vacuum advance line at the distributor (bypass the OSAC valve completely)
(3) set your base timing, curb idle, and curb mixture to factory specs.

Now, without reconnecting anything, try stepping on the brakes. Stumble? I predict not.

Now go check the vacuum on the vacuum advance port on the carb. It should be ZERO. It is possible that in the 34 years since your truck was built someone has swapped on a Holley 1945 that was intended for use with a lean-burn computer and therefore has full vacuum rather than ported vacuum on the nipple you are using for vacuum advance.e If this is the case, or if you cannot get the port to not have vacuum at idle, you are better off running the engine without vacuum advance than with vacuum applied at idle.

I predict that disconnecting the vacuum leak in the brake booster and restoring your timing to factory specs will permit you to close your throttle plate and lean out your mixture to the point where the vacuum advance port not he carb will no longer be below the throttle plate and will have no vacuum at idle. The caveat being if someone swapped a lean burn carb onto your engine (see above).

Try this and report back.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.