If the timing is off, I know it will affect many things. By process of elimination I've changed all plugs and the fuel pump is fine as is the carb. I haven't changed the fuel filter yet.

But the car will drive fine for 15 minutes, then at a stop light, it has to go into neutral or it dies as it's riding SO rough. If I give it gas when it's in drive, it begins to die and if I pull my foot off, it begins to die ... it's a hit or miss thing.

Yesterday doing 30 mph it just stalled on a country road in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately I could restart it in drive and went off. 20 minutes later at the auto parts store it would not start with or without gas, let it set 10 minutes and it was fine.

You have to hold the starter 3-6 seconds for it to start unless it's the first start of the day (catches right away, no issues), and if you give it gas that won't help. I'm afraid I'm going to wear out my starter/solenoid by doing this. And yes, there is spark going to the coil.

If timing is off that much, could that be it?

(I know what the timing is supposed to be set at and plan to have my mechanic do it this week, but am trying to troubleshoot this before it even goes to him. A friend used my timing light (with dial) and we can't see the line, so he thinks maybe the distributor isn't in correctly or the timing is off SO badly ...)

 

All of your symptoms are common symptoms of a choke that is not working properly. Next time it acts up pull over and look at the carburetor and bet you will find the choke is partly engaged. That will cause the mix to be to rich and would also cause issues when you accelerate because the accelerator pump supplies even more gas to the already rich mix. Symptoms of timing being off can consist of hard labored starts, backfiring through the carburetor when to far advanced and no power and or backfiring through the exhaust when to far retarded.

 

The kid who has been working on my car for the past 2 days says, and I quote:

" its not because of the choke. your choke isn't even connected. its actually not even installed."

 

What does he mean by, "its actually not even connected� is it completely removed or just part of it is disconnected? If the linkage is disconnected from the choke baffle is it baffle wired in the open position? If the actual choke mechanism has been removed has the vacuum port pen plugged? Also if it is disconnected and the car starts just fine cold than I would venture a guess that the idle mixture screws are set really rich to compensate for the lack of a choke, and once the motor warms up the mix is to rich. A choke is one of those things that you need! How does the exhaust smell and what do the electrodes on the spark plugs look, what color?

 

I dont think i could actually get my car to start (let alone run very long) when the air temperature is below 40F without the choke. Its a real pain without choke even when its warm outside.

I would make certain to have the choke reappear somehow and actually have it function properly.

 

Also when was the last time wires/cap/rotor were replaced? And how new is the carb? But yeah, what do the plugs look like, that'll tell you a ton

 

Well my car doesn't have a choke and starts hard but runs ok most of the time. I had a similar problem with my parents old 4x4, does this happen only on dampish days?As if it doesI think you may have carb icing at a guess.

 

What kind of ignition / distributor do you have?

You may have a coil going bad, and/or a module box etc.going bad if you have electronic ignition.

A coil that is "going out" can be a troublesome diagnosis to make... but they are reasonably cheap to replace if stock, you might give this a try.

I think your issue has more to do with ignition than timing.

When a coil is going south, temperature can play a big role in "intermittent" issues.

 

The exhaust doesn't really smell, though I have a small leak that's going to be welded up tomorrow.

We put in new plugs on Saturday. The carb is fairly new and I'm getting new plug wires at the end of the week. The plugs were SO bad and rusty it was pretty disgusting. One of the uhm orange thingies it fit into broke off a bit it was so old, but the connections were fine.

I don't know what type of ignition I have. It hasn't been damp here (it's the summer) so that's not an issue.

It starts from a cold start with no problem at all. 10-15 minutes of driving and all of a sudden she goes rough and a stop sign/light is a nightmare. Give it a little gas when I put her into drive and she begins to stall, you can just feel it. Let her set 10 minutes and she's fine. Start her, drive for a while, and out of theblue she'll begin to ride rough.

Just trying to figure this out by process of elimination.

The kid says it's not fuel or spark as he's checked the carb each time this happens (when he's been with me) and there is fuel getting in fine, same with fuel pump working fine.

What's really weird to me is you almost can't give it gas to start it, where with my 1966 Mustang if I don't hit that gas pedal 3/4 times she won't start. Now that it's drilled into my head that you must give it gas as it's not fuel injection ....

 

What carb is on it? Next time it dies pull the air cleaner off and see if there is gas in the carb.