Idle question

[Hugh Mongus]

Hello, I am new here, at least to posting. I lurk around and read all the great information everyone shares.

I recently bought a '71 short bed with a 355. When I got it, I made it about a mile down the road, and we got to sit together for four hours getting to know each other while waiting on a tow.

Since then, I replaced the carb, plugs, wires and set the timing. It starts and idles like a champ now. The only issue I have now is when I drive it the idle is too high when I stop. I have added two stiffer throttle springs, but this doesn't seem to help. Keep in mind it idles perfect in park.

Can anyone tell me what my cause this?

Thanks in advance.

[geezer#99]

As you might have seen before.
MORE INFO!!!
What carb, distributor, timing, mods etc.
And pics really help too.
And welcome to the jungle!!

[Hugh Mongus]

Edelbrock carb, OEM HEI distributor, 8 BTDC initial timing. Unsure on internal engine mods.

[geezer#99]

Is your choke set too rich?
Have you tried turning down the high idle screw?
Did you check the weights and springs in your oem hei?
Could be hanging up.

[Hugh Mongus]

Have not messed with choke since carb install. I will try that. Not sure how to check the distributor.

[geezer#99]

Pop the cap off the dizzy. The rotor is right on top. Twist it by hand. It should move a little in one direction and snap back. You should hear the weights move.
Or remove the rotor (2 screws) and then twist the plate and watch the weights move.
Check the choke first though.
Pics would still help!

[Hugh Mongus]

Thanks for the help. I will add pics when I get home from work.

[Hugh Mongus]

Setting the high idle solved my problem. Thanks.

Pics as promised.

I bought this from a guy in Idaho. He told me that it had all new paint, new interior, and that the engine had roughly 9,000 miles on it. The paint is terrible. He painted it with some cheap acrylic and apparently doesn't have much in the way of painting skills. The body work is even worse. There are noticeable sanding scratches all over it, some worse than others. When I received it, it wouldn't idle without the choke fully engaged, and the idle was around 1200 rpms. The idle was so high when I stopped at the first stop sign on my way home the rear tires were spinning. lol

They unloaded it from the transport about 5 miles from my house. I jumped in and made it about a block before it died.

He also sent me a text message telling me that the battery had gone bad and it wouldn't start when they arrived to pick it up. So, he was nice enough to put a new battery in it.

Back to the story, when it died I coasted into a parking lot. When I stopped I tried to start it back up. Guess what? The "new" battery was dead. It wasn't a new battery. It was a new to the truck POS battery that he had laying around. So, I got to sit for 4.5 hours waiting for a tow truck in 30 degree weather.

I finally got it home and into the shop. I replaced the plugs, wires, and carburetor gasket. It would start and run as long as I had the idle turned up. So, I decided to replace the carb. Now it fires up with a bump of the key and idles/runs like a champ.

So far I have bought a leather seat from a Tahoe to put in it, but it hasn't arrived yet. I also ordered new door locks, ignition switch, and Hotchkiss 4/6 drop kit. The OEM springs have been heated with a torch by the PO so it already sits lower than stock.

I am going to replace the front fenders and both doors as they all have bondo and rust in them. I am planing to lift the bed off today so I can start sandblasting the frame.

Last night I tore into the wiring. It's a mess. The headlights don't work correctly and the left turn signal light comes on solid when I turn the head lights on among other things. Someone has also converted it from points to HEI and butchered the wiring under the dash and under the hood. So I started removing parts of the OEM harness that are no longer going any where. I may just buy a new painless harness, I haven't decided yet.
It currently has 15" Torque Thrust II wheels on it. I plan to replace those with 20" 338s.

Last night I also gutted the inside of the cab. I am going to sandblast the inside and get rid of all the surface rust. Luckily the only real rust issue I have found so far is the lower kick panels are rotted out. Unfortunately I am not a body man and have little knowledge on that stuff. I figure I'll clean all the old paint and surface rust off the metal then prime it. I will take it some where for new paint and let them fix it.

Now gather all this up and dump it into the middle of just moving into our new house and all the honey do's that go along with that. I might be able some serious progress done by mid-summer.
















Those are pictures from the guy I bought it from. I will get some current pics today once I get in the shop, after I finish hanging curtains for the wife.

Here is a link to a video he also sent me

1971 chevy short box - YouTube

You can hear how fast it was idling. I sent him an email asking for a different video with it idling correctly. He just replied with "I had the carb set too high, but it runs great".

[Hugh Mongus]

Forgot to mention, one positive thing I noticed once I got it home was a set of dump hump heads.

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

wow!!! idling at highway speed. what do you plan on doing with the seat??

[Hugh Mongus]

Haven't decided. It really depends on how the Tahoe seat fits.

[70STOVEBOLT]

It's a nice 20 footer. I like the 2-tone interior. Welcome to the board from NE Indiana!

[Hugh Mongus]

Blasted it with a power washer today to see if the paint would stay on. lol It did unfortunately. I also took the bed off so I could sandblast the frame and repaint it. I also noticed the PO had installed air shocks on the back. He cuts the air lines and left them dangling underneath. I removed those and bought a couple of temporary shocks from autozone. I also removed the old coils.

Tomorrow the white front bumper is going bye bye, so I can install the new chrome one.