Took it for a little spin earlier once I put everything back together and I was not pleased. #1 It jerks (sometimes rather violently depending how fast i'm going) when I let up on the Gas and start to coast all the while making a groaning noise, #2 when I shifted into second the shifter immediatley drops toward the floor (linkage problem perhaps?), #3 It doesn't brake well enough to suit me but that should be fixed when I redo the whole brake system. On the plus side it didn't make the clunk noise it used to when stopping suddenly, and it doesn't pull to the right as bad anymore (still pulls slightly though). The fuel line to from the pump to the carb was seaping fuel at the pump the other day I put some thread sealant on it and it seems to have fixed it at least for now. No lack of power despite all the problems it did wanna get up and go but I didn't wanna get it going too fast with the brakes being the way they are. Any ideas on the jerking problem? I'm thinkin it could be the differential I hope not I don't feel like taking that thing apart.
I've been told thus far it's most likely the Carburetor I still don't know though. The Carb is screwy though it has trouble starting and if it's cold I could be out there for 15 minutes or better trying to get it to stay running. When I first start it it almost immediatley dies if I don't gun it right away to keep the RPM's up, earlier today It stalled on me 6 times before it would finally stay running. Seems to idle fine once it's running the jerking problem happens on decelleration the car will accelerate just fine in 1st gear (I have a 3 speed manual), it's when I immediatley let off the accelerator that it jerks and since i have to release the accelerator to shift into second you can see how this can be problematic, it all depends on how fast I let up the accelerator and how fast the car is going when I do the faster I release the accelerator the more violent the jerking. Car handles ok when it's going although after it jerks the engine drags, feels like the car is towing a Winnebego, the dragging is only at it's worst in 1st Gear though, after I cycle all the way to 3rd it's not bad and it goes away once I press the Gas. Today I did an experiment I removed the plastic filter I had between the normal fuel filter on the carburetor and the fuel pump and inserted a long rubber fuel hose connecting the fuel filter with the fuel rail going to the pump I was thinkin maybe that plastic filter might be robbing the Carb of fuel but it didn't fix the problem still the stalling continues I haven't drove it since I did that though so it remains to be seen if the jerking problem is gone but I doubt it.
on the jerking problem,have you checked the points?my old 71 comet did the same thing.you could barely feel it on take off,but as soon as i let off the gas this thing would almost give you whiplash.i checked the points and the only metal that was making any contact was about the size of the tip of a needle, completly burnt.just a thought,hope this helps. chuck.
Doesn't jerk as bad since I tweaked with the fuel line but it still does it, as for the points i've yet to inspect those since I bought the car back in Feburary if they are bad i'm thinkin about just upgrading to an Electronic Ignition seems more practical as points wear out. Neighbor told me it could be a bad Carburetor to Manifold Gasket or possibly the Head Gasket causing it (both should be simple fixes right). Could that be the case? The Carb has not been removed at all while i've had the car but it is possible the Previous Owner may have serviced it and didn't reseal it properly I never really thought about it. As far as the Head Gasket goes i've been meaning to take a Compression Test on it for quite some time but with all the other problems i've had to deal with I haven't gotton around to it, the Vacumn Reading I took awhile back showed some fluctuation indicating something what I don't know the book says to do a Compression Test to determine anything furthur. If it is the head gasket it's not very bad cause i'm not burning coolant and there is no oil in the Coolant that I can see there really are no obvious signs but I know that doesn't mean there isn't a problem. I wish I had someway to confirm it without spending an arm and a leg to have a shop to a stetho test or whatever thats called to diagnose a bad gasket i'd hate to have to tear everything apart down to the block to discover the gasket is in perfect shape. As for the Carb gasket I was planning on replacing that anyway cause I was gonna take the Carburetor off and tweak with the float somebody in the junk yard (a fellow Mav owner) told me the float could be out of adjustment which is why it's a pain to keep running when it first starts.