Stranded in San Antonio

[Rootbeer Roadster]

We had a great drive in the country today with a planned stop for lunch in San Antonio, Florida. It was about 43 miles to the restaurant and we were about two blocks away when the car hesitated slightly as I pulled away from a stop sign. I thought it odd, but since it smoothed out we continued. At the next corner it started to run very rough like it wasn't firing on all cylinders. I pumped the gas some and it smoothed out enough to make it down the block and to the restaurant. We went inside and ate hoping it would run better after cooling down. When we came out it started, but idled very poorly around 600-900 rpm. If I gave it some gas it would smooth out, but I also noticed the RPM gauge would change rapidly between 1000 and about 1800RPM without the engine idle changing. I had it towed to the house and it is now safely tucked away in the garage. I've looked over the engine without taking anything apart and it all looks fine. I have about 1/2 tank of gas and feel it is an ignition problem and not fuel. The car has a Holley SA570 carburetor and the ignition is a Mallory Maxfire with a Mallory coil. Where should I start looking? It's been running smooth and perfect until now without any problems for the 1800 miles I have on it. Do you have any ideas?

Jeff

[Someday I Suppose]

It sounds like a timing issue to me, I would say check the distributer to make sure that the clamp is tight and timing didn't change.

If it's not that, you could check the coil, and I would also maybe check the battery voltage to make sure it is charging properly. I had an alternator go bad once and it would do that. It wasn't making full voltage so at idle it would almost die but when you reved the engine it made enough to level out some.

HTH

-Scott