idle trouble/ car wants to die
 

hello everyone. i have an issue i cannot seem to solve.
had this problem about a week ago. changed carb gasket and intake valley pan. a little better but problem persists .

when i drive the car, especially with the headlights on. all seems pretty normal at cruising speeds. but when i slow down and stop to an idle. after about 15 secs or so the car kinda bogs down and seems to struggle to stay running, at which point the headlights dim and such.
two things dont know if theyre relevant. the one nut on the positive (i think) side of the coil, with the two wires. was loose, after tightening this it seems to help a problem out a lot,especially with the dimming.
second. if i disconnect the negative while the car is running, it stays running, and the idle revs up a little bit.
what do you all think?
vacuum leak? resistance in the harness?


please help. this is eating at me.

Sounds like typical 40 plus year old technology. The lights would dim on these cars at idle when new. What is your idle at now. Maybe turn it up a tad to keep the car running. Won't hurt to just clean up and inspect everything. Get a good tune up on it. Make sure wires are clean and have good conections. You will probably find more like the loose coil wire. There are up grades if your wiring is causing troubles, but seem normal to me for a car of this age. Time to learn your car and how to keep it maintained. 1st step is get a book for your specific car. Then just follow the steps for diagnoses and repair. Good Luck and have fun.

re:
 

figured the problem out.
collapsed lower radiator hose. car was wanting to vaporlock after getting hot
especially at idle.
fixed it yesterday and drove it around for 4 hours no trouble =]

thanks again