Believe it or not
 

This is really a response to an earlier thread (starting), but I thought it deserved a separate posting.
For background, see 'starting' -- a few threads back.
I appreciate all the suggestions from people on this forum. Thank you - and I mean it, because I learned a lot. In addition, I have talked to Holley and to various shops, but before I start taking the carburator apart or buy a new one, which I thought would be easier, I decided to do one last thing.
My 18 year son had suggested this (of course) from the very beginning. He blamed the fuel for my problems and had asked me to drain the tank. So today we did and put in new gas. Top octane out and top octane in. And guess what, my problems are gone. The car starts right away and runs the way it used to (I am just itching to floor it).
The gas in the car is only from early June, however, and my son and I tanked up separate cars at the same gas station, and he started to have idling problems in his Alfa immediately afterwards, while mine would not start and when it did, it would shut down shortly afterwards, and then not start again.
The gas station is a big brand name in a busy town. No reason to believe they would sell me old gas or the wrong grade.
I wish I had listened to him eight weeks ago, but the solution seemed too simple and too easy. Next time I will listen.
As they say, all is well that ends well. If you hear a vroom, vroom in your neighborhood, it is probably me.
OMathisen:)

Sometimes the simple solutions are the best ones. :)

Did you notice any water in the gas when you removed it? If a gas station is at the bottom of a hill, water entering their tanks is sometimes a problem. In any case, I would consider gassing up at another station in the future, if it were me, just in case.

Glad to hear that it worked out for you.

Cheers!
Dave

ALWAYS glad to hear a success story!

Dan

I tore my hair out trying to diagnose a similiar 'runs, stops, runs, wont rev up' problem. Tried everything! Captured a sample of gas in a glass jar and it 'looked funny'. Water in the gas! Darn, and I wasted a TON of time figuring that out. :D

Can also happen when you catch them right before a busy station is scheduled to be resupplied, since any condensate in the system will go to the bottom of the tank. This is not an uncommon occurance in aviation, hence the drawing of fuel from the bottom of each tank prior to each flight no matter how recently the engine was shutdown last. Just be thankful we primarily operate in two planes, not three!