I took my car up to 70 mph on the weekend. (The fastest I have driven this car and yeah, I know I know, sounds pathetic, but I was concerned about blowing up the engine the revs sounded high to me.) But once I got to the light after the 70 mph run (and yes, the engine did sound glorious and robust at that speed), the idle had dropped from its usual 1200 rpm (yes I know it sounds high but that is where I left it so that it wouldn't quit on me at a stop light) to 500 rpm or so and has been running at this lower idle since. Driving back from the shop today, it seemed to hesitate or slip which made me think maybe there was some clutch slippage but later this evening after another test, I heard a backfire out of the carburetor when I got on it a bit. Is it possible that something changed on the carburetor in a negative way or maybe the timing? I am going out to check the distributor to see if it shifted. As usual, all opinions welcome.
Best regards,
Richard E.
Addendum: The distributor remains firm and did not shift. Now focus goes to the carburetor. I don't believe the linkages were binding.