bought a decent Nopar..got a ? or 2

i recently bought a 82 diplomat for $200. the car is soo mint inside and out, it has the slant 6 with 89,000 orginal miles. im use to FI.. so this carbed car is different for me when starting up in cold conditions. takes a good minute or two of 20% throttle to warm the engine up so it doesnt die at idle. neways i realized the car really sucks in the snow :) any surface with snow and the car just sits.. so for u M body owners.. would a good 100pds in the trunk help this problem or maybe the purchase of studded snow tires? the tires in the rear got a good 75% tread life and they are all season. also im not too sure but the motor seems well maintained, but it seems to be a real gas hog.. few laps around the block and it easily goes through a qt tank. what would be a good idea to maybe help out with fuel economy? ive owned and driven cars with 6&8 cyls but this bad boy really guzzles :rolleyes: anyways all opinions and input will be appreciated..
dusty

You can do lots of things for fuel economy. K&N air filters, change your oil every 3000 miles, change your fuel filter every other oil change, new plugs and wires..stuff like that. As for the 100pds, you have to remember that adding that weight may help put weight directly down when moving slow, but driving faster it will be harder to stop, because your throwing the weight of the car PLUS 100pds at the front brakes in the snow. Make sure your brakes are good. Hope this helps.

I agree, pay attention to the tune ups. Also, adjust the ignition initial timing. Try advancing it a couple of degrees more than stock. Also make sure the vacuum advance is working right. Use a timing light to do this.

Often these cars used a thermal vacuum switch on the intake manifold. Below about 150 deg F, (coolant temp) the engine gets manifold advance, above that it gets ported advance.
These switches ALWAYS get stuck on manifold advance, so power and fuel economy sucks. Just bypass it and go for full ported advance (thats the kind that produces max vacuum on acceleration, and no vacuum at idle)

Also make sure the choke pull-off on the carb is working, and the choke blade opens fast enough.

Finally, get some decent snow tires. Studs are not necessary and may be illegal in PA.
All season tires suck in snow, regardless of what they claim to do.