THANKS!! and a huge plea for some help....

I should of done this two weeks ago(will explain in a moment), but first and foremost, I want to thank all of you guys for being here and your willingness for sharing knowledge. I obviously have not posted or contributed much, but every time I need to work on my truck, I scan, search and read everything I can about whatever I am working on in these forums and you guys are a great help. Just for a little background: My '83 Sundowner is not my toy(I have a '71 Cougar that fills that place--LOL!!) It is currently my one and only daily driver. I drive 40+ miles one way to work daily, mostly interstate. I have owned it for a little over a year. Below are a couple of links to pictures of it in my photobucket account:


Please read my next post for some details as to what I am requesting help for. THANKS!!!

Use the img link to post pictures easily.

Nice truck!! Love that style! Dan

Good looking truck by the way.

Last winter I was having some ugly carb problems and ended up having the stock carb rebuilt. Among other things the guy that rebuilt it said a solenoid in it was bad. It ran like a charm after this and I drove it all summer with no problems, averaging 26-28 MPG. About three weeks ago, it started doing the exact same thing so after scouring these forums, I bought and did the Weber conversion. I could not believe the difference in power and drive ability!!! First two fill ups I averaged 30.25 MPG.I loved it for a week and a half. Three days ago, it started stuttering at speed on the interstate. It started doing it around the 65-70 MPH range. I could let off the gas for a moment then accelerate back to speed and it would run fine.This was/is not a constant thing, doing it sporadically. Don't know if this is relative or not but doing this coincided with temps turning colder in the 30-35 degree range. This morning was the coldest yet in the upper 20's and it did it quite a bit the whole trip to work. MPG's have only dropped back to the 27-28 range. It idles smooth as silk and this problem does not happen driving around city streets or during acceleration from a stand still. It does act like it has a 'flat' spot sometimes when I first mash the gas, mostly just starting out in 1st and shifting to second, but does not do this all the time either. This morning I disconnected the power to the choke just to see if it would make a difference but it did not. (one more post coming to finish explaining this.....)

It starts on first crank, warm or cold, and shuts off without any run on, etc..... Exhaust does smell a little rich and have not been able to adjust this out. When I installed the carb I plugged the pipe coming from the exhaust going to the carb, ran the vac line to the distributor and basically followed all the hints and suggestions I found on here. And like I said, it ran great putting 80+ miles on it a day for a week and a half. I manage a restaurant and have Mon/Tues off so really hoping to get some helpful hints between now and Monday. It has the external electric fuel pump, so should I put a regulator on it? I actually have one off yet another cougar I owned that I would just have to get a dial guage for so I could see what I am adjusting to. I am thinking of cutting the cat off this week also. Could the vac advance not be advancing correctly all the time or maybe and electrical problem. Not sure if it has anything to do with anything, but ironically the first morning it started doing this,my dash lights did not come on until I had driven about 5 minutes.They have done this each of the last three mornings. I'm beginning to think it just doesn't like the cold.....LOL!!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!
Chuck

Thanks H2 for converting the pics and thanks for the comps from both you and Dan. Will be at work all day tomorrow but will check back in tomorrow night after I get home from work. Thanks Again!!
Chuck

An update and some additional information: At about the same time I started having carb problems my water temp gauge stopped working. Something that mystified me when I changed to the weber was that the gauge started working again. About the same time I started having the above problems it quit working again. About half way home tonight I stopped to get gas and check mileage--30.22 MPG. I don't know exactly how all this figures in with this only happening at speed, but I was thinking this is an electrical problem-vs-carb problem. For whatever reason, when I went to pull out at the gas station my temp gauge was working again. It worked almost all the way home and I cruised at 65-70MPH with no studders or problems at all. As I said, the gauge wasn't working when I got home so I decided to take my first ever look at the fuse box in hopes of finding a loose fuse or something. In all my years of messing around with old cars, I have seen some crazy wiring, but I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this:
The third(wire) and forth fuses from the top on the left side are labeled IG/meter turn and regulator. The fuse was slightly corroded and the wire loose. Pulled fuse/cleaned and tightened the wire and the temp gauge started working again. Guess at the very least I am in the market for a fuse box and if this is indeed the problem I might not of needed a new carb, but can't say I regret getting the weber.... Anyone have an extra fuse box for a '83?

Wow that's crazy! At least you have found the problem.

Nice find! Make your own if you can't find one