Now that I have the 123/Tune distributor installed and working flawlessly I have gone back and started adjusting and dialing the car in. A few things that bothered me up to now was the choke operation, a stumble at high rpm shifts and the lumpy idle.
1. Choke Operation
When cold the choke would kick in and it would rev to 2000 RPM. It would then stay there for a LONG time. It also would sometimes jump up to maybe 4000 rpm suddenly upon start then kick down when you stepped on the gas. I disengaged the electric choke the. Tuned the car once warm and then re engaged the choke and started to adjust it. Took a few mornings because it had to be cold when adjusting but the result is very nice. It’s set to turn off a little fast. I may adjust it just a tad more but it’s so much better!
2. Lumpy Idle
This one was related to the fuel mixture on the carb. In trying to eliminate my stumble on high rpm shifts I played around with the fuel mixture on the carb and that lead to a lumpy idle. So after installing a new distributor, carb and fuel pump I lost 90% of the stumble and so the carb adjustment was much easier to dial in and it resulted in a smoother idle as well as a better performing car.
3. Stumble on high RPM shifts.
This one drove me CRAZY. I started with trying to tune the carb. No luck. Then timing. Nope. Then replaced the carb itself. Now it got better, but it was still there. Replaced the distributor and BAM! It’s almost gone. Adjusted the float level on the carb and it got even better. Now its only noticeable when I really step on it and when its cold. I think I need to adjust the float level even more. That may be the glue that makes it all work.
What I need to finalize a tune on the car is a few hours with the timing light and some patience. This will allow me to fine tune the choke operation. Fine tune the idle mixture on the carburetor and maybe fine tune the float level.