Ok here it goes..Car starts up fine (cold) but after driving for awhile I notice the car idling very rough and having a hard time staying on when I accelerate out of first gear (4speed manual)..Before I know it the car dies on me..Then getting it started back up is another adventure..Car is getting plenty of fuel so started checking for spark...I noticed a very weak yellow spark from the ignition coil so I replaced it hoping that would fix it...but it didnt solve the problem..I checked the cap,plugs and wires but I cant seem to find this one....anyone got an idea what it might be?? thanks

I would look at choke operation ... Is it opening up after warm-up ... A high float level can also be at fault here, or possible a piece of trash holding needle valve open ... On the ignition side, a bad condensor may be a possibility...

Are you useing points? What kind of carb? Stock type engine?

Sorry I should have said this earlier..its a 383 small block,full roller motor, fordged bottom end,10.5 pistons and a 750 double pump holley..I havent checked the float level or anything to do with the carb..I was so certain it was an electric problem, ooops..ill be sure to check to take a better look..

Joe, also post back some info on your ingition system ... I am assuming points and condensor .. Also, to ge the car to start again, do you have to hold gas pedal to floor and just crank and crank until it starts? Do you get black smoke out of tailpipe? Be as specific as you can be.

I had a ballast resistor go out on me one time, too much voltage to the ignition coil heated it up after a few miles and car quit. Had to let it cool off for 10 - 15 minutes and then restart. Coil heated up again, died. Cooled off, starts & runs for a bit - died. New ballast resistor, problem solved. Figured it out by poking around under the hood and touching the coil - HOT! I replaced the coil shortly afterwards for peace of mind as well.

What coil and distributor are you using?

iginition is a msd 6AL box with a blaster 2 coil..the distributor is also msd...If I wiggle the coil plug the car will start right up without having to give any gas..thats why I replaced the coil, but that didnt seem to work...

An early life lesson I learned happened when I "replaced the cruddy old [resistor] wire" with a new copper wire. I had no idea it was a ballast wire. I just knew it was stiff and the insullation was cracked in several places. Definately looked like a candidate for replacement to me. The coil would get extreamly hot and eventually cracked. At least when the coil cracked we had a better idea of why the car kept shutting down when it got hot. We installed a ballast resistor and all was well.

iginition is a msd 6AL box with a blaster 2 coil..the distributor is also msd...If I wiggle the coil plug the car will start right up without having to give any gas..thats why I replaced the coil, but that didnt seem to work...

Joe, did you consider that the coil wire may be bad ? If shaking the plug gets you started, then yeah, that's a candidate ...

well guys...I did some more poking around and I think I found the problem..I checked under the distributor cap and what do you know..there was more corrosion than I can even explain..probably something I shouldve checked in the first place huh :)

Another question...is it safe to spray WD40 under the distributor cap? If so is there anywhere on the distributor I need to avoid spraying?