James Rouse

After three weekends of attempting to repair a leaking fuel return line I finally got it stopped and while working on that I found a shoddily patched place in the other fuel line going to the engine and replaced that (I thought it'd be a good idea to use ACTUAL injection hose and some clamps too!) and when I went to the top of the tank to hook up the new return line I found a broken wire to the sending unit and repaired that as well... all of which put me back at square one. Not Progress you say? oh you are mistaken because at square one I am now able to start actually determining the cause of my BIG problem which is that the car runs fine to 1800 rpm then lays down and tries to die, obvious fuel delivery problem you say? No kidding says I, so since I now know that the car not only has fuel in it and that fuel is definitely going where it needs to be, I begin to look at the AFM/ Barn Door again. So since I know the Darned thing opens my Dad and I begin to question how well it opens but the air box is installed right now and its 1 AM so I don't really want to take it off (been under her for 8+ hours I was tired) so I pull the top off and pull the filter and stick a mirror back there and shine a flash light so I can see down the throat. Dad starts the car and runs up the throttle and sure enough at 1800 rpm that door stops opening so in a moment of exhaustion driven clarity I walk to the rear of the car and pick up a leftover piece of hose go back to the front and tell dad to run it up again but this time when it hit 1800 I shoved a hose down through the door and guess what the car didn't die!! nowt only did it NOT die it took throttle normally all the way to 3000 rpm when dad let off and opened the window wanting to know what the heck I did (he couldn't see me) to which my response was "SHHH! Turn the car off! See if she'll start!" She did and this time he ran her up to 4000 and held it , then he came off the throttle suddenly and once again the car didn't die it just went back to idle , on the throttle again , this time to 5000+ and held it for a minute or so and right back to idle! So as of 2 AM this morning, my car, for the first time since I've had her, and for who knows how many years before, went for a drive of more than 150 feet, in drive not reverse, without out flooding, or laying down and never died! and the engine even reached operating temperature! She went up and down our mountain a couple of times! We actually put a couple of miles on the odometer! That my friends is progress as far as I'm concerned!

Now for the Question(s) !
Does the fact that can only get normal behavior from the car if I run a hose down the AFM to keep the door open, indicate that my AFM is broken? or would there possibly be a factor keeping the door from opening completely? Vacuum issue maybe?

Landseer

Probably a vac leak or an accumulation of them.
These 80-84 cars all need the rubber replaced throughout the intake area, including boots and injectors and various seals.