Well, I alluded to some idling issues I was having in another thread. I fought with that Carter AFB for over a month. I finally gave up and starting taking things off to see if I could figure out what was going on... I pulled the carb, intake, valley pan, and rocker covers. I did find that my PCV valve grommet was rotted, and big chunks of the valley pan gasket had rotted away. I pulled the rockers and pushrods and checked out the cam and lifters, they looked ok, so everything was cleaned and reinstalled (with some engine assembly lube for good measure). I cleaned and painted the valley pan and reinstalled it with a new gasket, then topped it off with a new intake manifold and a Holley carburetor. I also ditched the points and installed an HEI distributor. Everything that was removed was cleaned and painted before going back on. The TH400 kickdown wasn't functioning when i got it, so I found a microswitch on a 3D printed bracket that fits on the Holley so it works now. I also installed a new tachometer, but it is having issues, so I need to install a line filter to get the signal cleaned up.
It drives like a different car. Now it idles happily and doesn't die when I let off the gas.
I picked up a 400 from a 67 GTO engine in pieces... I'm gonna keep her on the road with this 389 and build the 400 in the background and have it ready for an eventual engine upgrade.
