Classic/Antique Car Repair: 68 Chevelle, 68 chevelle, competent mechanic

Question
Mr. Benjamin,
I purchased the vehicle with a four barell and a very high idle.So I had the timing adjusted and now when I crank it I have to give it excessive gas right away or else the vehicle cuts off.When I have it on the interstae it runs fine until I come to a stop and then it shuts off. Is the problem having the 4 barell instead of the two that it came with.

Answer
Adjusting the timing would have almost no effect on the idle speed - I think what was done was your idle speed was adjusted.  That is a simple adjustment screw on the carburetor, so take it back to where you had it serviced before and tell them that it is now idling too slowly.  Any competent mechanic can fix it in a few seconds, and should not charge you for that if they caused the problem.

I see no reason why the 4 bbl carburetor should have caused this problem  any more than a 2 bbl carburetor - the adjustment is the same basically no matter what carburetor is used.

Of course it is possible that there is some other problem with the engine that makes it stall when the idle is adjusted properly - one can't guess at what that might be without a full diagnostic test on the engine.  However, these are very reliable and simple engines to work on, any experienced mechanic should be able to find your problem very quickly, perhaps with a compression test if he feels that is necessary.

Dick