I have an 84 Camaro with what I believe is an 87 350 4 barrel carb 2wd set up in it, I rebuilt the top end and put a new cam in it, and it drove fine(ish) for a month, then I started have problems. anytime I get back about 30% throttle in drive, it starts running rough, sputtering, coughing, almost like the timing goes out, but when I put it in neutral or reverse, it runs fine....I have a Holley 670 street avenger carb on it, so I'm not sure what the hell is going on with this, my buddy says it might just be the torque converter, but I'm not sure....any ideas or insight would really be appreciated!

 

If it was the torque converter then you would have the exact same symptoms in reverse as forward.

 

Highly unlikely to be the torque convertor. Check plugs and wires first. Do the timing and checkout the carb.

 

I rechecked the plugs and wires, number 5 plug was clean, compared to the rest of the plugs which we all pretty black....so why would the engine run fine in neutral and reverse, but as soon as its in drive, start missing? Do I need to work on the carb tune?

 

I'm starting to think less and less that its the torque converter and more that its a carb issue. I haven't heard very many good things about the Holley Street Avengers and that's what I'm running.

 

Less /no load on the engine.

Until you can pin point your actually problem ,( it may well be a spark related problem ) you need to work on everything.

For starters , why do you have 7 dirty and one clean plug ?????
Given the design of a carb intake , is highly unlikely that is a carb ( fuel ) problem so why are 7 cylinders not firing properly
( which would give exactly the rough running cond you describe.)



start a question in carb dept

 

will do

 

An engine running fine under no load and spluttering or mis-firing under load is usually a good sign you have a problem with your spark. Old hot-rodders used to say 90% of all carburettor problems are electrical :-)

 

I believe your right, 7 of the plugs were pretty black, #5 plug was clean...

 

As your problem is not trans related should close this and start a new post in the Engine dept
As you have one good plug ( indicating good spark from the coil ) as Cosmik Debris said in post # 3 ,I would be checking the plugs and the wires first
http://www.wikihow.com/Test-Spark-Plug-Wires

Ohm test each wire , the wires break down with age and while you may observe a visible spark at the plug with it out of the engine
it may not have enough grunt to fire in place when covered in fuel

http://www.autotips.com/plugwire.htm

 

how do I close the thread?

 

Stop responding here and start a new thread in a more relevant dept