Its been a while since I posted here... like several years- life got in the way and car fun wasnt in my cards for about 6 or 7 years. Hoping i can return humbly to the hive for some sweet sweet car knowledge.
This summer, SWMBO and I purchased a 1972 Monte Carlo - pretty much a factory stripper except for power steering and a TH350 automatic. Crank windows, no vinyl top, bench seat etc etc. Originally she was a 2b 350/350, though now she sports a Holley 4b 670cfm carb. Outside, the Monte is in incredible condition for a 50 year old car. No rust, body is great, new paint, original interior.
But...
It suffers a bit from what I think is a restoration by body guys - it has some tuning issues that are beyond me, and the (very professional, and great to meet and get to know) guys who did the resto are convinced thats just how old cars are. I beg to differ.
I know my way around most EFI cars - enough to be dangerous. Ive gotten pretty deep into a few of my cars, and came out the other end with a car that was better off for the effort. Im out of my depth with Black Sabbath era tech unfortunately, and finding competent mechanics in the 2020s is proving a challenge.
So, im returning to the maddness of the forum - help me diagnose my issue, plz. Here are the symptoms
- The car stumbles off idle
- She idles a little high, but when I go to ease into the throttle from a stop, or even from coasting, she will stumble, like shes too rich, or timing is off. If i blip the throttle during the bog, she gets right again, but if i keep the pedal there, it will backfire/miss. Feels like too much fuel is loading up at idle, but adjustments to the accel pump make no difference.
- in true shadtree mechanic form, Ive tried to floor it because that usually fixes everything. She opens right up, and makes good power, but the acceleration isn't as smooth as it should be - i get random hesitation just for a moment here or there as she accelerates. Its not a smooth arc up to shift, but more of a bumpy staircase.
- trans leaks like last moments of Bonnie and Clyde (too soon?)
- ive narrowed it down to all of the trans seals except for the pan gasket...because i replaced that one. Theres fluid coming out from the front of the bell housing, from the speedo cable, and the tailshaft seal
- The reason in include this trans issue in my tuning question is that when I dropped the pan, the fluid was grey-red, and full of fine metal (no chunks thank goodness). Not burnt smelling either - It was honestly surprising given how well it shifts. But, I was initially concerned about my torque converter being the culprit behind the accel issue - that maybe its so bad that its causing the engine to work too hard to get out of idle, and the presence of that much metal only deepened my suspicion. But from what Ive learned, a TC thats in that bad of shape often will also cause stalling when pulling to a stop, and might lead to hard/missed shifts. I have no stalling or bad shifting, so idk
So, basically i dont know where to turn. I will put a timing light on it to make sure im not dealing with timing thats too retarded - like I said, when i get into the gas pedal, she straigtens out a bit. Im guessing that the timing advances when RPMs climb, so i could be a few degrees further BTC than i need to be. But is the Trans issue related? I cant find a mechanic who is interested in helping me out. I found one on the googelz that was rated well for classics, but they basically looked her over, and sent me back home with a sorry we dont work on carbs themselves, and you should see a transmission shop for your leaking. They were concerned that there was internal issues with the clutch packs or valve body or something, and didnt want to get that deep. I dont want to trust a random transmission shop with my car, so I guess I could pull the trans and bring it in, but that still leaves me with the most common small block in existence that no one wants to touch...i guess im going to have to learn tuning SBCs myself, which is why im here now.
I realize diagnosing outright isnt really a valid expectation, but hopefully the hive can suggest some online resources to absorb knowledge from?
halp. And thanks (in advance) for (hopefully) the warm welcome back?