Quote:
: I have a '73 Plymouth Valiant. It hasn't been
: well taken care of but it runs pretty well.
: I have a problem though with it hesitating
: really bad either warmed up or cold. I live
: in Hawaii so it is always "warm"
: outside so nothing to worry about with cold,
: cold starts. I had the timing looked at and
: it is perfect. The carb is kinda black but I
: spray carb clean in now and then. I noticed
: today that it blew out black smoke. Does
: that mean burning oil?
My first "guess" is that the distributor's vacuum advance "pod" is blown or there is some other problem preventing the vacuum advance from pulling in quickly. To test this, put a timing light on the mark and work the throttle by hand, the mark should "jump" forward 10º or more as you "crack" the throttle open. Disconnect the vacum advance hose and retest, if you see no difference, you have found the problem. You may want to run a vac. advance hose directly from "ported vacuum" to the distributor if it is not already routed like that.
Another note: try advancing the timing to 8 -10º BTDC, this will also help reduce any off idle stumble.
DD