C1 tune up/Powerglide question

[Craig F.]

I am helping a friend bring his 59 base motor 283/powerglide car out of a 20 year storage situation and have come across a problem that due to my lack of knowledge on PG cars cannot figure out.
So far we have cleaned and flushed the fuel system, replaced the fuel pump, had a correct carter carb professionally rebuilt to stock specs and at this point the car will run and idle fairly well, although a little high on the idle, but as soon as it is put in gear it stalls. If you put it in gear on a slow roll it will drive fine but as soon as you stop in gear it will stall. I am looking for some ideas to try from someone who has more experience than I do with this engine trans combo.
Thanks

[Duke W.]

Re: C1 tune up/Powerglide question

You need to do some basic diagnostic tests.

1. Check and correct as required dwell angle and timing. Report actual data (numbers) not just "it's okay."

2. Report VAC ID and verify that it meets specs.

3. Perform idle mixture/speed adjustment, and report idle vacuum as xx" Hg @ yyy RPM. With PG this must be done in Drive. It should idle smoothly in Drive at 450-500 at 15" Hg or higher.

4. Also report idle vacuum at 500 in neutral.

Specs are in the "vehicle information package" that you can download from the GM Heritage Web site.

Report all of the above and we can go from there to isolate a cause of the problem.

Duke