Hello, obligatory "new to this forum" post, if i didn't post this in the correct board feel free to delete it.
I'm new to the world of classic cars, decided to start small by buying what i assumed was a relatively good beginners' car: a 1964 valiant 4-door with the 225 slant six and the A904 automatic pushbutton transmission. I test drove it in july, ran like a dream. didn't have any issues. I decided to wait a few weeks before fetching it (it was a few hours away from my home, and driving that lightweight car with no seatbelts or airbags down a highway filled with impatient BMW owners going 90mph wasn't exactly my cup of tea). On the day I get to it and prepare to drive home, the impossible happens: the car stalls. And by that, i mean, frequently. Every two or so stops. Don't have my tools with me, so I get it towed home. Once I get home, I check the car out, everything seems to be in its respectful place and the carburetor looks brand new. Puzzled, I take the car for a little drive around the neighborhood. Since the choke is broken (it's missing the spring apparently, didn't even notice it), I have to let it heat up for 5 minutes before hitting the road with it on summer days, otherwise it will stall everytime I give it gas. So, anyway, I head down the road, get the car's temperature nice and warm, and the car still stalls. I struggled to get it back home, and I took a look at the ignition: Distributor looks brand new, starter seems fine, coil is a little old but not too bad, fuel pump seems okay too. One big thing I noticed is that I can see the flywheel from the engine bay : I think there's a sheet of metal that is supposed to cover it à la dust shield, but it appears to be missing.
A couple weeks go by, I'm getting sick of not finding the issue. I call a family friend who's a mechanic, and he agrees to have a look at it. Here are the things he mentioned when I got my car back a few days later:
-The carburetor was rebuilt (hence why it looks new). TERRIBLY. It doesn't work properly.
-The choke doesn't work. It will need an entire choke assembly if possible.
-A radiator hose was leaking so he changed it.
These remarks left me quite perplexed. The thing is, I don't know if the carburator being bad would cause such problems. You see, whenever the car stalls (or tries to stall), it's in drive. It won't stall in neutral or park, even if I give it gas (unless the engine is cold, because no choke, remember ?). So, whenever I give it gas in drive and it acts up (which is no longer all the time after the mechanic "adjusted the carburetor"), it starts misfiring and wanting to stall. That's only when it's in drive. There also appears to be some noise, almost like constant backfiring or popping, coming from the back of the car, under the rear driverside door. I know that I have a small exhaust leak about there, so maybe it would be what's causing those pops.
So, obviously I don't want to start throwing parts at it until it works, as the car won't gain value anytime soon with it being a four door. I just want it to stop stalling on me.
So, as a bit of a TL:DR: Car stalls, only when in drive, mechanic said it was the carburetor, but i believe it to be something else because if it were the carburetor it would stall all the time, no ? not only when it's in drive ? whenever given gas in drive and when the car feels like being insufferable, it starts misfiring like crazy and "popping" from under the rear seat, which i believe to be an exhaust leak. What should I look into first ? Fuel pump ? Sparkplugs (which would be weird because it only happens in drive) ? or would it be something way more serious that tells me that I should look into a new car ?
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. I love this car. I just don't want it to keep rotting in my driveway until I can figure out what causes the problem or have a mechanic charge me a thousand dollars for something I can do at home.
Thank you,
Phil.
