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Surging engine

70b5bluerunner

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Mar 7, 2010
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Location
N. Central PA
Just bought a 69 Coronet R/T stock 440 4 barrel automatic transmission. It has barely been driven since it was restored about a year ago. My problem is when I am on a hill the engine starts surging like its starving for fuel. The tank, lines, pump and filter were all replaced during restoration. It starts and runs fine on the flat roads.It has the factory carter carb . Where do I start? Gas is fresh.
 
90% of fuel issues are ignition. That said, if you accelerate moderately on a flat road what does it do?
 
Could be a bad distributor, had a friends 68 Charger do that swapped in a different one and bingo
 
Start with checking ignition, points (if you're using them) and timing. While checking timing confirm vacuum advance is operating. No change check fuel/air adjustment. No changes check fuel filter, no changes check float level. Do these one at a time so you know what was causing it.
 
Could be a few things.
Easy things first.
[1] Excessive ign timing, not retarding under load. If vac adv is hooked up, remove dist cap & suck on the VA hose. Make sure the VA plunger moves & moves the plate in the dist.
[2] Lean mixture. If the carb still has a choke, do this: engine idling, slowly close the choke until engine note changes. Back off slightly & tie the choke blade in this position. Test drive to see if the problem is fixed/improved.
[3] Report back.
 
Vacuum leak (try spraying with carb cleaner and listen for rpm to change) or maybe float issue
 
As you know, it's load dependant. Your metering rods are load dependant. It's easy to check that they are correct and the springs are proper.
 
'Restored'. Was anything changed in the engine from original? New cam?
 
A new to me car gets a tune up and general checking over. Check timing, ignition condition, new filters, etc. lots of things this could be without knowing the general state of the car. You could get into something like a fuel pump push rod being too short, a clogged vent.

The vapor separator on a 440 car needs to have a .060 orfice. There are some out there that have a bigger one, causing low fuel pressure. Just a ton of things to consider when you don’t know the true history of the car.
 
Show us some pictures of that R/T please.
 
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