Idles and responds good but stalls while driving.

[1974Spider]

I registered my 74 and was all excited to get on the road. It was running great in the garage and up and down the driveway slowly. i pull out onto the street, get into second gear and give it some gas. It starts bucking and reving up and down, then stalls out. i let it sit for 30 seconds start it give it some gas and let it idle and it idles fine.
Could it be fuel starvation?
Why does it idle great but stall under load?

[azruss]

sounds like a fuel issue. getting enough for idle but not enough to run. dirty filter, clogged carb screen, bad fuel pump

[1974Spider]

I have yet to dissasemble the carb.
Where is the carb screen?
How can i test the pump? Its a BDC electronic pump.

[nibbes123]

Check the fuel tank for rust. This happened to me when I owned a 74 two years ago, opened up tank from on top and looked inside with a flashlight low and be hold rust, took out tank brought to a rad shop had it cleaned and coated inside no more issue, worked great until I sold it and bought a 79 spider.

[1974Spider]

Hopefully this is usefull.
Out of ignorance i pulled the return fuel line off the carb and turned the key on and fuell came squirting out all over...that tells me that fuel is getting to the carb. Also when i push the throttle i see gas squirt out of the little tube into the intake as it should.

[majicwrench]

When you pull return line off carb, did fuel come squirting out of hose, or out of carb fitting??

Mountains of things can cause your problem. Fuel issues rampant. Proper way to test is to "T" a gauge into line before carb and "T" a gauge before pump, secure em on wiper arms, and drive till issue occurs. For starters just "T" line before carb and see what pressue is. Testing w car just sitting there not running (like you did) will not give you the whole story, although tis good to know fuel is getting up there.

Does your 74 have a fuel shutoff soleniod on side of carb??
Keith

[1974Spider]

Fuel squirted out of carb fitting.

Im not sure about the shutoff soleniod i dont think so as i dont see any wires coming off the carb but as far as i can tell i have the DSMA carb.

[azruss]

On the underside of the carb, right where the fuel lines are connected you will find a brass hex head that will fit a 17mm wrench. If you remove this brass bolt, inside will be a screen. You can usually just pull it down or it will come out with the bolt. All the fuel for the carb passes thru this screen. It will be a good indicator of what is upstream from the carb. clean it and reinstall. Also, you can be getting plenty of fuel to the carb and if this screen is plugged, the carb with starve.

[1974Spider]

Ok just drove it again.
Started fine after a few minutes was warm and idling fine. reverse out of driveway, everything good. went into first and second fine but after shifting into third started to sputter. Pushed the clutch in and let it come down to idle. looked at the temp gauge and the temp was at about 210F. Went to turn around and stalled in reverse, started it back up and would no longer idle but i could keep it running if i played with the gas.

Couldnt get a hold of a fuel pressure gauge.

[sehovarter]

Let me give you this advice - replace the fuel filter and then give it a test drive. My car had similar issues, would run good some days, but then sputter randomly, and seemed to flaten out and sputter under heavy acceleration. I decided to pull all the emmissions crap off (i have a 79 spider), put on a 1800 intake, new weber 32/36 carb, new starter,fuel pump, cleaned up everything i could. On the first try, she fired back up. Drove it around the block to warm it up, adjusted the air/fuel mixture, then idle, and it was running fine, but i did experience the stuttering briefly. The next day, i went to move the car and it would not idle, tried to run it up the block and it had neve ran so bad. I stood there looking at all my hard work, trying to figure out what the hell it could be - i had replaced just about everything, gas tank was clean - so what. And then right there in front of me, was the in-line fuel filter. I have owned the car for 27 years, and thought to myself "have i ever changed this filter?". So, i take it off and you should have seen the brown crap pouring out of the inlet side of that filter. Went to O'Reilys, got a clear filter, put it on, started it up, idled fine, took it out for a lap, and NO hesitation or stuttering. 3 days later and none of those symptoms have reared their ugly head - all for a whopping $3.25. Start simple, the fuel filter is the first stop! Then fuel pump, them carb............. My 2 cents.