i've come to the end of my rope--340 won't run

[snipernuts]

hi guys!! i've got a 1969 SE Charger, survivor car. we origionally pulled the 318 in it, it was tired, and dropped a 1972 340 from a Challenger in it, with a therma-quad

problem---at first it would vapor lock so bad it would just stall, put a electric fuel pump in and a spacer and mopar electronic ignition, no that was solved.

but when it get hot, if you just lightly touch the pedal, it acts like it wants to stall, and sometimes does.

it will stay running in park and neutral all day...until i bump it into gear, it stalls, 

could it be jetting (.95) or the metering rods (don't know the diam) or?

i need some direction, can anyone help...please!!!

thanks!!
greg

[Bullitt-]

probably not set up correctly on the idle circuit ..here is a comprehensive article that may help you  http://australianfordhardtopclub.org/Carter_Thermoquad_info.htm

[Chryco Psycho]

ther could be a lot of problems , vacuum leaks internal carb issues , timing set wrong , damaged torque converter

[Super Blue 72]

Like Chryco mentioned, are there any vacuum leaks?  Is the idle high?

Was the carb recently rebuilt?  If not, that might be a place to start as rebuild kits are obtainable for as low as $19 (or atleast when I rebuilt mine a couple years ago.) from Autozone.  I like to start from scratch sometimes and go with the prcess of elimination.

[Chryco Psycho]

check the float level too

[Street_Challenged73]

I'd lean more towards the torque converter failing.  My old '69 Charger with a nicely built 318 had the same issue you've described with yours.  It would run awesome while in neutral, but as soon as you put it into gear & hold the brake pedal, it would start to choke itself out until I was able to get on the gas.

[IMNCARN82]

    I'd go for the torque converter...  just saw the same thing happening in a 70 superbee vert. His bro built it,never ran right. Now you should see the grin on his face.

[snipernuts]

hi guys! Some great starting points to go to!! i do know the vaccum is good, we did the smoke test. electrical is good, it gets great spark.  but, we will have to check float levels, and definately the torque converter, i didn't even think of that!! the car still has the 904 tranny from the old 318, i have a 727 on standby.  i'll post what we come up with this weekend.

i  apprecaite all the ideas you guys posted, this is great!!

thanks!!
greg

[moper]

HAve the carb rebuilt by someone who likes Thermoquads if it hasnt. It sounds like a simple carb issue to me. Whether that can be fixed by you, you know better than I. Check the step up pistons (the rod hangers). Check that the secondaries are truely closed. If there is slop in the trottle shafts, you need to have that addressed. How is the PCV system? Power brake booster if you have one? The Tquad is very sensitive to vaccum leaks.

[matt63]

Beg, borrow,steal another carb that is known to work properly so you can determine if it is carb related.

[ntstlgl1970]

  with CP, moper and matt 63. See if you can check or substitute another carb first. Even if you have to spend $10 at pick and pull (I don't know where you live but there are always plenty of t quads around here) for another carb to test it, it's a helluva lot cheaper and easier than swaping a torque converter/transmission.

You say the vacuum is good, what does it read exactly? 10, 15, 20 inches? Steady?
Block all the vacuum ports so nothing is connected to the carb, and intake, retest. When/if it wants to stall, try closing the choke butterfly and see if it runs better/smoother.

Is the base gasket good? as in take the carb off and physically look at it. no tears or missing layers?

Make sure the vacuum advance for the distributor isn't connected to manifold vacuum also.

Hopefully you aren't trying to run this thing on some old gas, cause that will do this also.