Reply to "Start-up and acceleration"

A few quick notes from an inebriated mind.

Folks are spoiled by fuel injection. They don't remember that carbureted cars take longer to crank, especially when cold.

A good strong electronic ignition goes a long way towards helping an old motor start more quickly. If your Pantera still has points, that's one of the reasons it cranks for a long time. If the ignition is fed power via the ignition switch (oem design) then the contacts in the ignition switch may be burned & limiting the voltage/current to the ignition. This is a common Pantera malady

Does the car want to idle at all, or does it die when you take your foot off the gas? A car that's been sitting may have gummed up the idle jets.

If your carb has those plastic fuel bowl floats, they may have absorbed some gas & are not floating at the proper level.

If the motor cranks slowly, this may indicate a bad ground between battery & chassis or between motor & chassis. It may indicate a dirty battery cable connection at one of the terminals between the battery post & the starter motor. It may also indicate a set of dirty contacts in the starter relay. Finally, a battery that sat for a long time may not have the current capacity it once had.

A car with a strong ignition & a properly working carburetor starts, idles & accelerates properly. Assuming the lack of other problems such as vacuum leaks.

cowboy from hell