I finally got my 65 coronet running.the couple of days it ran fine.now the car will not idle sometime and then sometimes it will. when it dosent idle it just shakes then dies. but if I keep the car revved up or driving it runs great. I've tried to adjust the idle and it might work sometimes and idle good or it will just idle real low then shake and die.also sometimes when its idling alright and I put it in drive or reverse it does that shaking thing and dies. any ideas what could be wrong?

 

Check the usual suspects, Vacuum leak, Timing, Carb Adjustment.

 

How old is the gas? If the car has been sitting, sediment will have clogged the fuel filter and/or fouled the carb. Not likely timing or carb adjustments if it was running fine before the issues. Those items don't majicaly change. Also check for bad plug wires or fouled plugs.

 

I had a 67 belvedere that did the same thing. It had a stromberg carb. The carb needle and seat are very touchy, I used to carry a small bottle of tranny fluid with me and when it started "acting up" I would squirt some into the vent on the carb and tap the bowl of the carb with a wrench. This would "unstick" the needle and seat. It might be worth a shot.

 

did you ever replace the distributor cap or points if it has them?

 

I founnd out it was just a dirty jet.it idles good now and runs good but I have another problem.the car will start wheb its warm but after it sits for a while it won't start unless I go into the engine and open the choke all the way then start it then reconnect the choke. what could that be?

 

Does your carburetor have a choke pull-off? [It could be bad]

 

I don't know what type of choke it is. all I know it is a rod coming out of the engine and is springy and that operates the choke and that's what I disconnect to start it then I put it back on and its fine.as for things magically happening I got something for you. a while back I was driving the car and it was running good and it just died and wouldn't restart. I checked everything and it had spark gas and comp. I was stumped. I checked the shop manual and it said that the wires on the distbributor were wrong. I moved the wires around and it fires right up.the wires were way off but it was working fine before. it was really weird.

 

Is there a **** that you are not sure what it does in the car, I think you may have a manual choke.

 

All I can say is don't give up. It's all a learning process but its a fun learning process. I think your on the right track. By the way, a choke pull off opens the choke plate a little when you first start the car, thus allowing some air to enter the motor. Usually its a little round device{2"?}, mounted to the carburetor with a vacuum hose going to it and a rod that pulls on the plate. If this was bad, than you would have a hard time starting the car when it was cold outside because the choke plate would be closed tight from the tension of the choke coil and when you tried to start the engine, the defective choke pull-off would not open the choke plate at all. Do you have a stromberg carb and a polysphere motor?

 

there should be a adjusting screw on the right side where you can adjust so it dont close all the way

 

I had what you described exactly, except I knew that I had a manual choke. But I do not know about what these guys are saying, could be similar.

 

oh ok I checked the choke pull off and it was fine but I had a new one layin around so put it on and still hard but I gotta clean out the whole carb now and replace the filter.