That vtv gets removed. I would take it out with the metal spagetti and not just cap it. The re routing of vac lines does not take long and would be worth the effort to do right away.
I'm in Summerville and am also desmogged. Redfish or myself may be able to help out if you need. Is this brocks old truck?
After checking the idle solenoid I would put a vacuum gauge on and see what happens when it's a cold start and after it's warmed up and running. Rule out vacuum leaks.
Look...
I don't think I could do this on the side. Lack of time, and the fact that you can buy a dash cover on eBay for like $80. It's not that hard of a project. If you do any work on your rig, you can handle this. I need to post some pics of the finished product in my truck. I had her at the shop for...
You can heli coil that stud. I just did all my carb studs and the 2 where the egr goes into the manifold. The aluminum was stripping and I could never get a tight seal. Just make sure when you drill the carb studs to get all the metal shavings out of the intake.
I fiberglassed my dash pad to get rid of the cracks. I posted something up a while ago. I think the thread was "cracked dash pad repair". It would be easy to glass over the radio hole. Then you could drill holes for gauges there.
The o- ring only stops the flow of fuel from going around the solenoid when its closed.. A missing o ring would not cause any idle problems. Maybe blowing the air in unclogged the idle circuit. Did you rebuild the carb? I have spent countless hours with problems like yours, eventually you will...
A freind of mine is opening a shop next weekend called DIY motorsports. It's on Dorchester road near i26 next to geralds.
They rent car lifts and tools by the hour, they have a dyno, tire changers and balancers among alot of other stuff. They also have lifts for motorcycles. I got a tour...
Make sure you are turning the distributor the right way. Ccw for advance. You want to turn cw to retard. Then make sure you are on the outer diaphragm. In 4th gear at low rpm step on the gas. Under a heavy load like that it will ping if to advanced. Not just at the rpm you are stating, that may...