I am going to send him a pair of my metering rods w the richest "cruise" step as they need to come out of my 1406 (they're killing my mileage ) but that will show if his surging is a main metering lean problem and I maintain that he does not even have to change his jets so the top does not have to come off.

As long as you are using Carter 3 step AVS rods, you are correct, the top does not need to come off the carb. As simple as different spring pressure could help solve the problem also. Stiffer springs (different color) will make it harder for his existing rods to get sucked fully down into the jet under high vacuum (making the mixture richer).

Looks like everything thing is covered. However, when I had the same problem with my car it was due to the carb being to rich. So don't over look this too. How do your plugs look? If they are unreadable, replace one plug and drive it a few miles. This will give you and idea of which way to go as far as richer or leaner.

My car did the same thing with the mopar small block electonic diatributor. I found that the advance shaft plate that was swedged at the factory underneath was loose and the centifical(?) advance was hunting or surging several degrees upon steady cruise conditions. You might try a new distributor or disassemble the advance mechanism to see if it is loose and maybe mig it up. I replaced my distributor and it fixed my problem.

Update:
Thank you again Robert for the rods and the caps.
I swapped out the existing rods with the ones you sent.
It now stumbles out of the hole and the surging is actually worse.
I went to re-time it and the coil I have is really hot to the touch. Don't know if this is could be a factor.
The strip kit hasn't arrived yet so I guess I'm stuck for the moment.
It's a beautiful day here in Northern Virginia and a perfect day for working on cars.
Mike

I was sure hoping that it would go the other way. I am wondering since the caps I sent didn't seal totally but were Ok for me as I am never(yet) into the power step & my pistons were always pulled down on the base & sealed & when you're into the power & the piston is up no more seal. dont know for sure if that is what is going on but I have an AFB coming & I will send you the stock flat covers from it & we'll see if things improve. we WILL get this resolved