Recently bought a 74 charger se. It's in great shape. 318 with 2bl carb Auto trans. Great little engine. Not much rust and runs good. When driving it home it seemed to sputter when you accelerated more than a light push. It idles great. When you go to give it gas, more than a small push, it misfires, backfires and just all around struggles to get moving. It feels as if the power is there but it's just not running like it should. I changed the fuel filter, installed a new alternator for the other issue, put all new belts and hoses, insured no vaccum leaks. Now it occasionally stalls out randomly. It starts back up after a min or so. It is spitting small amounts of gas out the tail pipe. I have not replaced spark plugs/wires but plan to do so. Would this possibly be the cure or is the carb? Thanks alot!

 

Sounds like your issue is with the float level is too high and pouring too much gas into the carb.

 

M-t-y -

Eric is probably right about the float, but it could be the timing being off, too. Worse case, there might be a sticky valve.

Checking the plugs will confirm if it's running rich or not.

Been a long time since I played with the stock 2v on those things.

What are you planning on doing to it?

Got pictures?

Archer

 

Carb problems float setting and/or accelarator pump rebuild the carb or put on a 4 barrell manifold and carb [i recomend an edelbrock carb]

 

Thanks to all. I am putting plugs in tommorow and will see what that effects. I will be rebuilding carb if plugs aren't the wonder cure.
And in regards to what i'm doing with it....not much. I'm making it run best it can and will be painting it black towards fall or so. Almost all of car is original so i'm leaving alot alone as far as interior and exterior. Engine is being overhauled but other than that leaving most else alone as long as it treats me good. Thanks again for the help. I am new to this site but will definitely keep you updated on the status of things and will probably be posting for help again.

 

M-t-y -

Here's an idea ...



Archer

 

Yep, thats pretty much the plan!

 

For the future.....Any body know how you could go about dying a soft top. Hope i don't sound stupid for saying that. But i can't picture a nice black car like that with a not so clean white top. Yet again, this don't look bad one bit.....

 

M-t-y -

Actually, black with a clean white vinyl top was a factory option. You might want to try cleaning it really well and see how it looks. If you still don't like it, do a search out places that do restos in your area. They should be able to dye it for you. (Most regular body shops these days don't even know what a vinyl top is!)

BTW - if you plan on keeping it pretty much stock, it doesn't look too shabby right now!

Archer

 

That green car is not mine haha. Mines all white with white top. I wouldn't be touching that with paint. I just thought it was a good example of what mine could look like being a white vinyl top.
I'll try and clean the best i can. But will make some calls around and see what local shops say. Hear we go....haha.

 

M-t-y -

I dunno, white on white should look pretty cool, but JUST LIKE BLACK, it's a bear to keep clean - everything shows.

Thanks for the thanks!

Archer

 

Well, it would but its a real dull finish. Like almost matte. It has slight surface rust that stands out alot against it. Bondo then nice and shiny black! And no problem bout the thanks.

 

Adjusted timing today. It is now idling slightly higher. Took it out for a drive and still starts to bog out and backfire at high rpm 7/10 full throttle.
Put it in park and shut motor off. Came back out, started it up, let it run for a few minutes then adjusted carb a little more. Out of nowwhere the car shuts off and it was not from carb. Car has gas. Gas was making to carb and was being pushed into it. Checked plugs, and what do you know NO SPARK. All spark plugs and wires are brand new along with distributor cap. Not sure where to go from here.....ballast resistor??

 

Did you change the distributor rotor? Do you have an electrical meter to check voltage and ohms? Checking voltage to the coil and resistance (ohms) across coil will give some answers.

 

M-t-y -

A burnt rotor can do that, but I'll assume you changed that. If the engine restarts, it's not the ballast resistor in case some one suggests that.

Since you have the electronic ignition, you might want to consider getting a new box. For around $40 for stock, it's a quick test. They generally last around 30 years and there are upgrades available.

Bad coil or bad wiring may be at fault, but in reality, unless something looks or smells fired, it usually isn't. Do the simplest stuff first.

Archer

 

Rotor was chnaged with the cap. Engine is no longer starting. Spark plugs give no spark....

 

M-t-y -

Check the ballast resistor.
You might want to pickup a new one (or two) and a new ECU, they are cheap enough.

These guys are pretty good.
http://www.mopartsracing.com/

Since this is a progressive problem, you're going to have to approach it methodically. After a decent inspection, visually and with a multimeter, start swapping the simplest and cheapest things out first.

Archer

 

Cleaned the rotor inside the distributor, fired up. Now hear this, theres a ticking noise. Like the sound a lifter makes. Don't understand how out of the blue a part like that could go bad. Stalled, then started up and now it knocks. Taking to a shop tommorow. Can't handle the multitude of problems arising in my driveway. Haha. Thanks Archer for giving suggestions. Bought the haynes manual for the car and that has helped alot. Hoping the shop fixes my issues and leaves me with my dignity....

 

I'm sure they will leave your dignity intact but your wallet will be recovering most likely,sorry had to say it.

 

Thats kinda what i meant haha. Shops will find reasons to replace anything and everything. Luckily, my dads friends have a shop and they do no-nonsense quality job for cheap. Sounds crazy but its true!

 

Shop tore it apart and found that timing chain jumped a tooth and distributor was bad. When they started it up it backfired so bad that one of the muffflers(left side) actually blew up. So ride home was loud to say the least. Running good now though. Feels like alot more power and it made it home so we'll see where we go from here. I'll leave you fellows with a picture of the brute. Paint job is needed, i am aware. But mechanical takes precedence over visual.[IMG][/IMG]

 

M-t-a -

Hopefully they replaced the chain (with a double roller type) and didn't just reset it. The stock plastic teeth can be problematic.

Ya know, the white on white does look good and keeping it the same color will save you bucks in the detail work on the paint job.

BTW - that's not an SE, it's the standard model. The SE roof has the opera windows and there's a lot more chrome trim.

Archer

 

Looks good thats an exact same type car we are building [except yours runs drives and has all of it's parts] i would go with white and add some black striping around the upper sides if you wish. Like this one, mine will be like this minus the vinyl top.

 

Heres an update you probably didn't see coming, haha.
This 74 Charger is for sale. Not sure what to ask for it. It runs and drives but needs some love. Any tips on about how much it'd be worth to sell?? Thanks alot guys.

 

1500-3000