hi , i have a 72 valiant with a slant 6 225. i did the hei upgrade , rebuilt carb but idle still needs to be pretty high to keep from stalling,and it really wants to go or die. according to original owner it always did this. in my younger days i loved my 3200 stall converter. it seems like if this had one it would be more driveable. maybe not so much as a 3200 but anything to help it slip more at idle. any suggestions?

A properly functioning carburetor is far easier.

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Joshua

The solution to a malfunctioning carburetor is to fix the carburetor. Carburetor operation and repair manuals and links to training movies and carb repair/modification threads are posted here for free download.

Even with a carburetor working correctly, a high-stall torque converter is probably an unwise idea. The Slant-6 likes to be a torquer motor in anything near a stock configuration, so unless you're building a high-RPM race motor and/or swapping in a rear axle with a much lower (numerically higher) ratio, a high-stall converter will make the car guzzle gasoline with nothing in return—a little like trying to fill the bath tub with the drain open.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

What is the idle speed? Adjusted valves? Checked timing?

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

That hei upgrade really helped with the stalling , starting and overall running. yes I did adjust valves and set timing. I rebuilt the holly 1920 with usa parts from Mike's carburetor. I got the idle lower today but ready to bring this car to a friend mechanic for the final tune..I would love to bolt on a new carb but can't pay 400 for a 1920 holly, doesn't seem right. I did see new chinese copy cat holly carb that is for a ford ,was wondering if I could swap linkage over to it and go? I'd hate to run communist carb but anything to get her right...O and still haven't done a compression test but only has 87k on it . I'll get to it soon

All carbs wear at the throttle shaft/bushing junction, letting in unintended air and making it impossible to get an appropriate idle adjustment. If the rest of the carb is in fundamentally sound condition, the carb body can be rebushed. To check for this, with the engine idling squirt carburetor cleaner at each end of the throttle shaft. If there's a major change in the engine's speed or sound, or you hear slucking sounds as the cleaner is slurped in, you've got an air leak there big enough to want repairing.
For you and/or for him, follow tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this post.
Yeah, the price of new carburetors keeps going up as the supply keeps going down. :-\ And the quality and dependability of "remanufactured" carburetors has been lousy for a couple of decades now and keeps going down as the feedstock gets worse and worse.

Eventually the Holley 1920 runs out of lives (can't effectively be rebuilt any more). In your position I would not put further effort or money into a 1920 that doesn't respond fully to a basic rebuild kit. Instead, I would start with an appropriately-configured '71-type Carter BBS—an older rebuild from before the current "reman" era, such as this, or this, or this. Your effort and money will go further, and you'll wind up with a better result. Everything will hook up, except the BBS has a front fuel inlet instead of a side inlet. Good excuse to do the Fuel line mod.
Just say "no" to a cheap-but-not-inexpensive copy of a carb for the wrong kind of car.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hey, wait a minute. You won't spend a few hundred dollars on a new carburetor, okeh, fair enough.

…but what did you think a high-stall torque converter costs, parts and labour included?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

lol you gotta point, ive got it tuned in better , but why does the idle kick up so much when i plug in the vac advance line to the distributor? i thought it shouldent have that kinda vac at idle

Your engine is still not in proper tune. The carburetor and distributor still want attention (and one or both might need replacement) by someone who knows what they're doing. Excessive vacuum advance at idle can mean a worn-out carburetor, a thrown-together "remanufactured" carburetor, or a carburetor that's basically sound but with the throttle plate open too far at idle, which might be done in a hamfisted attempt to compensate for other issues (engine won't run at appropriate low idle speed, initial timing is retarded, etc).

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

ahh you are correct, the idle screw is way out, like close to bottom. ill let a real mechanic look at it soon. its actually drivable now so ill take it to him after i replace most of the braking system

One quick thing to check: pull the PCV valve out of the valve cover with the engine running. Put your finger or thumb over the bottom end of it. Do you feel strong, immediate suction? If not, that could drop your idle speed low enough to require cranking the idle speed screw.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

One other thing that would increase idle is if vacuum advance vacuum hose was connected to manifold vacuum. By plugging into manifold vacuum (below throttle plates) it will fully advance timing as soon as the engine lights off when 17 to 20 Hg of vacuum is developed. Advancing timing at idle will increase idle rpm significantly. Vacuum advance needs to be plumbed into metered vacuum tap, or in other words, a vacuum tap that see air flow above throttle plate.

At idle there is not enough air passing by vacuum tap located above throttle plate to develop vacuum via Bernoulli's principle, and when engine is operating under constant part throttle opening when manifold vacuum is high, there is enough air flow to develop a vacuum in the hose connecting to the vacuum advance.

Depending on throttle opening and its rate of opening or closing dictates what level of vacuum the vacuum advance sees at any time over and above base & mechanical advance contributions. This change in total timing would be 30 to 50 degrees of advance. Increased timing while underway at steady speed over and above what base plus mechanical advance bring to the table increases fuel economy.

There is a lot more on how the three timing settings (base or static, mechanical, and vacuum advance) contributes to performance and fuel economy here on this site.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC