My name is Joe, I own a 1970 Mustang project (coupe) with a rebuilt 302 motor. I’ve been working on this car with my father for the past month and a half trying to get it going, we managed to get it running after rebuilding the engine and c4 transmission. We have also replaced some mechanisms such as the brake booster, master cylinder, steering control valve, and the driveshaft. As far as it’s come, there are still things we don’t have the knowledge to solve alone. Now, the car will start but it doesn’t seem to want to stay running by itself, we need to rev it in order to keep it alive, if we manage to make it idle by adjusting the carburetor (while in park), as soon as I put it into drive, the car stalls. Along with that being a major roadblock for us, the steering wheel will violently fly in either direction back and forth if I turn it while the car is running. We are looking for a way to bleed the steering so that it will function normally, and get the car to be able to run itself, idle, and stay running after being put into gear. Again, the motor is from a 1970 Mustang, size 302 (5.0L), we have a stage 2 Edelbrock camshaft, matching timing gear, matching lifters, an Edelbrock performer 289 intake manifold, and a 600 CFM Holley Carburetor. Tomorrow we are going to give the car more gas as it’s only had maybe 3 and a half gallons max. I’ve read that it may be vaccum not evenly distributed causing the car to stall when put in gear, so we are going to bleed the brakes to maybe help equalize the air. On that note, I’m open to any suggestions anybody may have about how to solves these issues. Thank you

 

The engine issue is probably a compound issue

1) the engine isn't warmed up properly and is not anywhere close to operating temp
2) the choke is not set properly or at all. The choke plate should be closed when cold enough to hold a pencil between the carb body and choke plate (this is about the size of gap you want) This should also set idle RPM up a bit higher perhaps 1,500 rpm
3) The engine RPM is set to IDLE rpm of 850 in park and not 850 to 900ish in gear. the additional load on the engine causes the idle rpm to fall below operating rpm and die especially when cold with an improper choke setting.
4) if none of those tick any boxes then check for a vac leak... Usually found behind carb or where intake manifold meets heads
5) you can check for a vac leak by lightly spraying carb cleaner around the base of the carb and intake with engine running listen for large drops in RPM at the source of the leak.

The steering issue is likely an issue with the control valve it needs rebuilding or replacing or inspecting it sounds like its not regulating pressure correctly.

Let me know what you find

-Gun