79 trans am starting problem

***Im not mechanically inclined so im providing the best description i can***

I have a 79 trans am with starting issue. It just got stolen recently and hasnt ran the same since. I have a freshly rebuilt stock carb in the car. That was tuned b4 it was stolen and i had a shop look at it and do estimates on damage and they said the only damage was a bent exausht pipe and needed 2 quarts of tranny fluid cause it was sitting on its tail end in a ditch. Today i drove to the store and it started up fine but when i came out it wouldnt start. I didnt have a meter on me so i couldnt check the starter but i believe its working fine. And it said i had 12V from the battery, but its not a trustworthy gage. And when i tried to start it my lights would dim really bad like i wasnt getting enough juice to it. The battery is a year old in it. I took off my air filter and looked at the carb. It looked like it had gas on the outside of it. I also looked at the distrubuter and i believe thats working fine also... So once i had the air filter off, she cranked up but was a very weak and i had to keep gasing it to keep it alive, but it finally stopped sputtering (Struggled to start when i mean sputter, and it lasted for about 5-8 seconds). To me it seemed like it was flooded. Can anyone help me and is this a carb or something else problem.... It was quite cold outside also about 35 degrees i would say, and it was dark outside so i really couldnt see...


O ya it also dies whenever i have it in reverse and crank the wheel hard. The auto shop that i took it to tightened up the ball joints because when it was stolen they took it through a golf course and tore it up. Also now makes a bad noise whenever i turn. Im thinking power steering fluid havent checked it yet. Since they checked the ball joints it shouldnt be them. But u cant trust mechanics and i guess i should do some investigating my self. I dont think ive ever heard of a car stalling though from cranking the wheel hard. Im thinking about takeing it to another shop and haveing them do damage repairs. But the people at the mechanic shop have done alot of work on the car already and knew the car pretty well. Im just a little lost any help would be well appreciated....

Just a little more that i have in the car is all stock 403olds 6.6l. Freshly rebuilt about 4 months ago...

Thanks Robert

You are discouraged buddy no doubt. Unless they are bleeding you dry for labour and parts or are total idiots,stick with them after all you say they know the car . Sounds like the idle is a little bit low .have them turn it up abit. Check your battery cables at both ends for good clean solid connections and also the battery itself to see if it is cracked or something possibly leaking abit,after all it prolly went thru the ringer on this tour. check the front shocks etc maybe a mount up top is bent or something . Let them try it and last but not least get a front end alignment done . Good luck
P.S Bet that thing runs like a raped ape

Your 79 T/A has an electric choke and it is probably on its way out (all the sputtering and struggling to idle when cold). As to the not starting..battery. It doesn't matter what the volt meter is reading, a 12 V battery will almost always read 12 V, but if it doesn't have the amps (charge) it won't turn the starter. Also, the starter on that car is a BIG old honkin thing and requires lots of amps to get it turning and keep it turning.
The stalling when turning the wheel is an idle problem. It is idling low, put it in gear and it idles even lower, add to that the load of the PS pump with the wheels in motion or at full lock and it just can't idle any lower so it shuts off.
Too bad you don't live near me, I used to own a 79 T/A with the olds 403 and know that engine/carb inside & out. Had mine set up nice and it ran like a raped ape.

Well it doesnt really sputter and struggle only when i try to get it to turn over (Like it was struggling to turn over, it sounded like it wanted to start but wouldnt. Then it just finally got that last little bit it needed to turnover whenever i took off the airfilter. I let it warm up for about 5 mins and turned it off. Then i tried starting it about a minute later and she started right up.) Ya i need to find the time to check my battery///starter. Ya whenever i put it in gear it idles lower. Im just trying to get it running well before it gets to far into the winter, because i leave to boot camp soon and my uncle is storing it in his garage but i dont want him to have to bother with it that much. Just start it up every once in a while and take care of it for a little bit while im in bootcamp.

Thanks,
Robert

If u have any other suggestions go ahead and shoot.