thanks for the quick response matt and the info on the cam! when i revved and let off it seemed like it hung up for a split second then started to idle better again... almost like a hesitation or slight stall. it was brief but i guess it could have sounded like it was going to die but very quickly regained idle? if that makes sense. i did check for vacuum leaks by spraying carb cleaner but found no change in idle. when i had the cap off the mp distributor the internals seemed a little slow to spring back? i'm still a little unclear of how to check to see if the advance is working correctly

I was going to mention advance issues - so here are my thoughts on that. If the mechanical advance was hanging up it might do something similar to what you just described. It shouldn't, but it might. Do you know if anyone ever played with the curve of the distributor? If it is really slow to spring back, then its probably been played with. You may run into trouble getting a consistent idle if the advance is coming in too fast. Do this to check if it has the stock curve - get it idling around 800 rpm or so and check the timing. It should stay relatively steady. It should also be pretty much the same as it is at 1000 rpm. I wouldn't expect the stock curve to start advancing until just after 1000 RPM or so. If the timing is bouncing around all over the place that may be causing some of the issues you are having.

If you want to disassemble the distributor or spy through the plate to see what you can, there should be one medium advance spring and one thick spring with a slotted loop on one side.

thanks for the responses fellas!

popped the cap off the dist and sprayed a little pb blaster on the advance springs and down in there, worked it till it seemed to spring back quicker and smoother... it was going pretty slow before and not returning completely. then adjusted the idle down to 800rpm and did a little four corner idle adjustment and timed it to about 11 btdc which seemed the best.warm idle is now roughly 800rpm and about 700rpm in drive.

doesn't seem to stumble as bad or often, maybe i've just gotten used to it lol. when i ran it up to around 1000rpm it started to advance slightly with the vac advance unplugged. does that sound like too quick of an advance?

also noticed the timing reflects the stumble... seems to retard about 1/16 of an inch at the time of stumble/hesitation. now when i rev and drop back down to idle it doesn't seem to hesitate like it did?

i'm going back and forth carb or dist, both were used but the demon was in operation for a limited time by my brother then sat for a couple years and the dist was an ebay buy history unknown

my plugs have gotten pretty dark with all the adjustments so i think i'll head out to grab some new ngk 3332 plugs.

here is a quick video... does she sound a little better?
http://youtu.be/D7XutJgvETY

I'd take the center clip out of the dist (there's a trick to that) & clean everything & lube the 2 pins that the 2 weights slip onto with some non stick lube & go back together but do post what springs you have in there as you might want to change them before you go back together. I'd set the initial at 15 or so (I forgot if you have a cam or not) then checkout the carb

It sounds like a good solid idle now. The fact that the timing jumps in synch with your stumble may indicate that your stumble is related to an ignition issue, but it could just be a result of the change in rpm. It sounds like the curve is good if it just starts to advance at 1000 rpm.

Also, what the fudge are those plugs? Those are very strange looking to me. I'd put in a set of Champion RJ12YCs or Autolite 85s.

Why don't they look like this picture? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ngk-3332

thanks for the response guys!

the guy who built my motor put a crower 32240 cam. intake/exhaust: 260/267 degrees with .456/.477 lift.

not sure where i got those other plugs but i did put a set of the NGKs in there.

well gents before i could tear into the distributor the motor developed some ticking, so i went to adjust the rockers. the cam specs called for .020 - .060. i took the EO IC route and after a few times adjusting the ticking seemed to quiet down after 1 turn past 0, except for piston 1 took 1.5 turns and piston 8, 3 and 5 were like 1.25 turns... which i'm not too keen on.

after all that the tick showed up again but this time would come and go and mostly sounded like piston 1. thought since the motor sat for a couple years maybe it was sticky lifters, i took it out for a drive and the tick left but came back again after some miles. this time the idle seemed worse and when in park i brought the motor up to the range of 1100-1500 rpm where it began to run choppy, maybe a slight miss?

hope i didn't wipe the cam... although the rockers appeared to all cycle when i was setting preload. could it be some bad lifters? i'm not even sure the builder used the right lifter/pushrod/rocker combo, i remember when on the base circle the adjustable rocker thread was not in line with the pushrod but at more of a slight angle. could this at all be related to the stumble?