running cleaner... tune up

[thebikedoctor33]

i have a 75 el camino with a 350... lately its been having a lot of trouble starting. i dont drive it, but i start it every day. i'm replacing the floor pans among other things, but its barely been starting... i dont know if its the cold(live in nj) or what. what kind of small, or major, things can i do to improve this. i'm thinking new plug and wire, in which case what would you suggest as a good reliable choice. and maybe new cap and rotor while i'm at it. what other adjustments or anything can i do. it runs ok in park or neutral but when i put it in gear it stalls frequently. is the timing off? i def know i need a new trans in the near future so that is part of the problem. it seems to be idling low, no tach, where should i go to adjust that? i looked on the carb and no adjustment seemed to be obvious... i just bought it in the fall and have been doing body and interior work, but this bothers me. it stalls way to often. it pretty obvious the gaps are off on the plugs but i think i will just get new ones and gap those and not even worry about the old ones. thanks in advance...

[NOVA71]

Yes, new plugs and wires are a good idea. I'd use AC Delco plugs. A cap and rotor button would be good as well. I like the caps with the brass terminals, but a reg cap would do. All of these parts should be pretty cheap. As for the carb, if you have a vaccuum gauge, you can hook it into a vaccuum port coming off the base of the carb (I usually use the one that goes to the brake booster). Then just adjust your mixture screws one at a time until you get the highest vaccuum reading. then adjust your idle screw to get the proper idle. Then repeat adjusting the mixture screws again to the highest reading and the idle again. Keep doing this until you can't get any higher adjustment. Hope this helps.

[thebikedoctor33]

can the idle be too high? and how will i know...