After owning my '70 (350, 300) for nearly 2 years, I've encountered my first bit of engine trouble. I was at a traffic light the other day when my rpms suddenly dipped and the engine stalled. When I tried to start it again, the engine only coughed and backfired. It turned over briefly, but I couldn't keep it going. After having it towed home, I tried starting it with the air cleaner off. Again, it barely started with a lot of uneven idling and backfiring, and I couldn't keep it going. An actual fire ignited in the Rochester carb bowl, but I quickly blew it out with no visible damage. My shop books say it's either a fuel supply problem or an ignition problem. I don't think it's a fuel problem because my carb jets seem to be squirting great. Any suggestions?

sounds like the condenser inside the distibutor is bad or the lead is grounded. a bad condenser will allow the engine to just catch but not run whih sounds like your problem. while there check point gap and or dwell

It could possibly be that one of your spark plugs or wires is messed up, inspect them. But maybe a better guess is trash in the carb. Has the carb been rebuilt? If so how long? Sometimes trash will go block a main passage and make it run real bad, but looks like it is right. Just a wild guess man, i have had some funny experiences like that. Just a couple of thoughts. Good Luck!

Hey Posi ,,, how many miles on the car ? Sounds like a possible timing chain slip .


Geo

i'll agree on the timing chain jumping.

I finally took my car to a professional mechanic, who found a bunch of problems contributing to my stalling out: a major vacuum leak (in the large jug-sized canister near the master cylinder), the carburetor out of adjustment and a misaligned distributor. He disconnected and capped the vacuum line leading to the worn canister (a project for another day) and made the proper adjustments to the carburetor and ignition. Now the car is running better than it ever has.

Thank you everyone who replied to my initial distress posting!