[64CatalinaVentura]

Hi all,
The idle and choke are now adjusted and working much better. The choke plate wasn't being fully set when using the gas pedal. It's been adjusted and the car goes onto high idle well. The idle has also been adjusted so give the car more fuel at a stop. It still will stall if I start the car cold and don't give it time to warm up and it will stumble a bit when coming to a stop. Nothing major. I have to wonder how much of the issue is a combination of the car being old, the lack of 98 octane fuel, and ethanol.

[64catalina]

I second the timing check or adjustment. I have had the same or similar problems with mine. Once I got passed 50 foot out of driveway or first cough it was fine. I also have similar issues at low end but part of that is the lack of vacuum advance on my distributor.
(lost it in a fight between engine bay and motor...)
fyi

[64CatalinaVentura]

August 3 Update:

I was talking with a guy from my local car club and he suggested checking for vacuum leaks. I found the vacuum junction box at the back of the carb to be very loose and the line to the brake booster to be loose. I tightened up both of them, but it did not make a difference. I also replaced a broken "t" in the vacuum lines, but again it didn't make much difference.

I also replaced the dash pot with an NOS one that I had. It made a slight difference when the car came to a stop (doesn't quite feel like it is going to die to the same extent that it did).

I've had two mechanics look at the carb (beyond myself) one at the local shop and another a family friend. Neither could figure it out.

There was an issue that the rebuilder told me about. The idle adjustment screw is not functioning right. He suggested shutting it off and using another screw that had been drilled into the body of the carb to adjust the idle speed. We've done that as well.

The carb has been adjusted and is currently set to run really rich as the only way to keep the car running at idle when cold.

Ideas?

[64CatalinaVentura]

I went back to the carb shop today. The rebuilder noticed that the choke plate was binding when setting the choke with the pedal, preventing it from closing all of the way. He made an adjustment to the rod that the choke plate moves on, adjusted the mix and idle, and adjusted the dash pot. On the 30 mile trip home (half back roads, half highway) the car ran much better. Its 85* and sunny here today and the car did great in traffic. The real test is tomorrow morning when the car is cold.