BRADVAN

Back when we removed the bad fuel pressure regulator we did not put another one on. The fuel pump is less that two years old. I just did a quick look under the hood and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. All plug wires and the coil wires are tightly attached. No fluid drips under the car other than those from the C4, which is usual for this car.

I have a 69 coupe that started as a basket case. The 302 is not original to the car (block numbers E0AE D3c 3G13) making it from 1983. Car has a C4 automatic. Other things I know about the engine; standard heads, unknown cam (but seems pretty mild if any upgrade), Offenhauser 360 intake (was on the engine when I got it), HEI distributor, standard exhaust manifolds, 2 inch exhaust with H-pipe and "turbo" mufflers. A while back I put a new Edelbrock 650 on the car. Afterwards, the car would run fine around town for several days and then just die. Once it had died it would not start, tuned over fine, but would not start. Tow it home and let it set for a few days and it would start and run again. Mechanic finally decided it was a bad fuel pressure regulator I had installed with the new carb. He removed it and all seemed OK. Ran $80 of gas through it and no problems. For various non-car reasons, I did not drive it for a few months and then just this past weekend I decided to drive to a meeting about 20 miles away. 90% highway miles, 60 mph. About 4 miles from my destination the car started to surge, backfired, and I started to lose power. The car continued to lose power, back fire occasionally, slowed to 30 mph for a mile or so, then just died. I tried to make a phone call or so, and then on a whim decided to try and restart the car. It fired right up, dropped it into D, and drove the rest of the way into town. When I made the return trip home the next day the same thing happened again. The only difference is I was about 1 mile from home when it all started and the car died 75 yards from my driveway. Once again I tried to restart the car, it fired right up and I was home. Any ideas?

I have to buy a new carb, either another 600 to put back on my 65 and leave the current 600 on the 69, or put the 600 back on the 65 and buy another (500?) for the 69. Just wondering what the "in theory" gas milage would be?

I'm going to be buying a new Edelbrock carb and I need help selecting the size. Here's some info: I have a 69 coupe that started as a basket case. The 302 is not original to the car (block numbers E0AE D3c 3G13) making it from 1983. Car has a C4 automatic. Other things I know about the engine; standard heads, unknown cam (but seems pretty mild if any upgrade), Offenhauser 360 intake (was on the engine when I got it), HEI distributor, standard exhaust manifolds, 2 inch exhaust with H-pipe and "turbo" mufflers. PO gave me an old, dust coverd Edelbrock 600 that I never got to work right. I took the essentially new Edelbrock 600 off my 65 fastback (mildly built 302 with approximately 325 to 350 HP). The new Edelbrock make the 69 run great. This 69 coupe will not be a race car, I'm looking for best daily driver-type performance, with gas milage a major consideration. I understand Edelbrocks a little and want to stay with Edelbrock. Can I put a 500cfm Edelbrock on this setup? What issues might I face? Opinions please. Thanks.

Here's an update on the 69 coupe and its surge. I have a 65 FB with a essentially new 1406 Edelbrock. I swapped the metering rods and springs from the two carbs. The older 1406 had 7047 rods and ?black? springs, the newer 1406 had stock rods springs (7547 and ?yellow?). The ?black? springs had 22 coils and were about 1/4 inch longer than the stock spring. Anyway, I did the swap and the car ran even worse, more surging than ever. Seemed to be leaner than ever. I put the newer carb back to original specs, and then swapped whole carbs. After putting the newer carb on the 69 and adjusting the idle and choke the 69 ran like a dream. Perfect idle, no surging while driving, good throttle response. I'm leaving the 69 set up as is, and buying a new carb for the 65 FB.

I have an Edelbrock Performer 600 on my 65 fastback that is less than two years old with less than 1000 miles on it. It runs perfectly. Maybe I should just swap the two carbs to see it things get better or change?

The biggest part of the rattle ended up being loose bolts on the shock tower. The bolts that bolt the stock export-type brace to the shock towere were loose. They looked as if they had been loose for years. Had to replace them, noise went away. The cowl was a small source of rattle, fixed that with a few small pieces of thin doublesided foam tape.

Well, the problem ended up being the wires to the highbeam switch on the floor had come unplugged. I had replace th floor pans, replaced the highbeam switch, and installed new carpet. The wires going under the carpet were just a little short and putting my foot on the carpet enough times unplugged the wires. Lengthend the wires and no more proble,. so far.

Ok. so I've made two clockwise turns on the vacuum modulator. Now things shift much nicer, just under 10mph 1st to 2nd, and just over 20 mph 2nd to 3rd. Still have the surge. Drove around town, several stop signs, mostly 30 mph speed limit, some 45 mph speed limit. Then out onto the highway. surge gets better and goes away at higher speeds. I can manually shift 1st to 2nd and cruising in second at 30 mph it still kindof wants to surge. Warm idle is about 700rpm in park, 500 in gear. When coming to a stop sign it will occasionally die. The motor has an old Edelbrock 600 and the enrichment screws on the front don't seem to make much change when screwed in or out. Any ideas?

Thanks for the response. If I had just done a little more searching i would have found all the info available on the vacuum modulator, duh. I'll try adjusting it and then see what happens with the surging. Thanks.

I have 69 coupe that I bought as a basket case. After a few posts on here and some trials and tribulations, it's drivable. The car has a mid 80's 302 mated to a late 70's C4. PO says he rebuilt the transmission. The problem I have is that once I put the car into Drive take my foot off the brake and start to move forward, the car shifts from first to second almost immediately. As an example, from a dead stop I can't make it half way through a turn before I'm in second. I honestly think the shift occurs before 5 mph. The shift is very soft, almost can't feel it shift. Is there some type of adjustment possible? After driving, if I come to a stop, everything down shifts OK, but now the car wants to surge. Almost seems like it's wanting to surge between first and second? Then again the surge could be completely unrelated?!?! Thanks in advance for the help.

The car was running when I tried to turn on the headlights. Battery is new with a new 100amp one-wire alternator (oops forgot that in the originaL post). I'll test for power to the headlights tomorrow when I get off work. I can run by the parts store and see how much power the new headlights draw. At what level should I be thinking of putting in a relay for the headlights?

Last Saturday I drove the car and the headlights and gauge lights worked. Monday evening the headlights and gauge lights did not work. When I pulled the headlight switch to on position it looked like the headlights were casting a faint yellow beam on the garage door. I turned the swich off and back on and had no headlights or gauge lights. Tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals all work fine. So should I be looking for a bad fuse, bad light switch, bad dimmer/high beam switch, or any other ideas? The car is a 69 coupe assembled from a basket case. All the wiring was in place and I have not modified the wiring except to put in a floor mounted dimmer/high beam switch. I have replaced the four "old" headlights with new "15% brighter Sylvania" headlights. Dome light and courtesy light have never worked.

Had the front drums turned and it fixed the problem. Hard to believe that the new drums would be out-of-round from the get-go.

Had the front drums turned and it fixed the problem. Hard to believe that the new drums would be out-of-round from the get-go.