I have switched my car from the points system to the MSD all in one electronic ignition. new coil, wires,plugs. Do I need to put a different voltage regulator on the car now? Or change any wiring? The car starts on 4 cyl sometimes and just dousnt seem to run right. Some of this issue may come from the carb not choking when cold. Just looing for some pointers. Thanks, Ken

No change in the VR. What do the instructions say about useing/not useing the ballast resister? Cant believe the dist is going to fire on only 4 cylinders.

What is the year of the car ?

The directions show a drawing and there is no balast resistor in it. Am I supposed to bypass it? The car is a 1970 Barracuda. 318 4-speed...... soo I called MSD tech and they say no ballast resistor on the ready to run MSD setup. I'm gonna bypass it and see whats up. Thanks

Ok, so i removed the ballast from the wiring and it is running way better. Now my only issue is: I cannot just mash the gas down to the floor, it backfires. I can slowly accelerate, but as soon as i stomp on it...it cuts out. It seems at higher rpm's I can step on it harder with no issue. I am thinking the carb is the issue now. I am posting 2 pics of the carb. See anything wrong? Thanks

2nd

did it run like that with the points? it sure sounds like a carb issue. has that little thing ever had a rebuild?

It was doing this before the distributor change. not as bad though. I doubt the carb has been rebuilt since it rolled off the assembly line. I am not sure if i should start messing with adjusting the carb or rebuild it. I have found a few threads about his same issue but havnt found any good answers. It only has this issue between idle and full throttle. once the peddal is past a certain point, you can push it down pretty good with no backfire.

my suggestion is to go to a qualified mechanic if you don't feel you have the skills to do it yourself. with a carb that old and never touched a simple turn of a screw is most likely not gonna fix it. it sounds like it clogging to me which would require a rebuild (most likely)after all these years. or get a new one?

If the carb is fine, try advancing the timing a little at a time. Mark where it is originally before making adjustments so you can go back to square one if needed,

So I have rebuilt the carb, in doing this I have found that the accelerator pump linkage had to be adjusted in order to get a longer stroke (now I can step on the gas without the backfire). So now that I have rebuilt the carb, the car starts right up and runs good at a fast warm up idle, but once it warms up it will not stay running. I am waiting for it to cool off so I can check the timing. Kinda hard to start the car and keep it running/check timing by yourself.

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Kinda hard to start the car and keep it running/check timing by yourself.

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If you don't already have one, head to the auto parts store and buy a remote starter switch. They are pretty cheap, $10 or $20. It hooks up between battery and starter relay and allows you to start the car while under the hood. You can press starter button with one hand and use the other to manipulate the throttle linkage so the car stays running. Then grab your screwdriver and adjust the linkage so that the car will stay running without being on fast idle cam.

Sounds like you have some carb tuning and/or timing issues, but you are on the right track and making progress

Ok, so I put all new plugs in and went through the cab again (cleaned everything over). Problem 1 = Car will not idle smooth bellow 1200 rpm, I turn the idle mixture screws in from 1 1/2 turns out all the way to tight and the car still runs???? but wont idle I thought the car was supposed to die with the idle screws all the way tight. #2 We turned the distributor a bit to try and make it run better(we have it set at 0 degrees TDC) and as soon as your touch the car (ground it??) it will run a little better? #3 there is steam coming from carburator like it is getting super hot. whats the deal? Thank you very much for any input, I cant believe this is such a headache