I am not really a car guy but I have recently became the owner of an 84 firebird in pretty good condition with just 70k miles. My dads friend has owned this care since his brother sold it to him in 85 and has always kept good care of it but never really drove it. I told him that if he was ever interested in getting rid of it I would love to buy it from him. Last week I got that call I bought the car for $1000 I know its a steal he wasn't interested in making money just happy to see it go to some one who is excited and will put some money into it. Overall it runs pretty well except in first gear, some times when you gas it off the line it hesitates for a few seconds before it catches and goes or in some occasions it stalls out. Once out of first gear it seems to run great. It hasn't been run for quite some time and I just recently put about 50 miles on it in the last few days and I am looking to take it in to get a tune up and find out what I need to do about the problems I am having in first gear. I just wanted to check in here to see what might be causing this before I take it into a shop. Attached are some pictures, this is my first post but im sure I will be spending a lot of time on these forums from here on out.
http://imgur.com/5uMlP
http://imgur.com/a/Oss2P

 

Something that old from the carburetor era I go almost immediately to the accelerator pump in the factory QJet carb. They have a rubber "cup" that seals the accelerator pump plunger to it's bore to force fuel through the accelerator pump circuit when you snap the throttle open. That rubber cup gets worn out and hard as a hockey puck after a few decades and the accelerator pump action becomes weak or non-existant. "Stumbles" when you open the throttle (especially if done quickly) are the result. In all steady-state throttle positions it runs normally. Only affects things during throttle transition.

Of course, anything that old you don't worry about the carb right up front. You do a full iginition tune-up FIRST AND ALWAYS (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, check the initial/base timing) and replace the fuel filter (in the nose of the carb, in your case). Then you tackle carb issues after.

Best guess from across the internet.

 

Thanks for the help.