My car has never left me beside the road until last year. She began by getting sluggish and then out of nowhere she would take off out from under me. I think I finally concluded that it was due to a bad coil. (it melted on the sides and was arcing off of the bracket that holds it.) By the time I noticed this problem the car left me on the side of the road for a second time. I pulled the vehicle to my Dad's house that day. A week later I turned the key and she started!! I immediately drove her home smoking all the way. Changed the coil and the ingntion module in the distributor. Now I got fire but it would only run for 30-45 seconds at a time. I checked the timing. Way off. Changed the timing chain/sprockets, harmonic balancer, timing chain damper, distributor cap and all related gaskets, etc. I reset the timing and now she acts like she isn't getting any gas. Could be a vacuum leak, I guess... I checked the fuel flow. No obstructions and no trash. Fuel pump works fine. Sometimes when I'm trying to crank her she will crank up and run like crap for 30-45 seconds. I smell gas when this happens. My fuel pump runs constantly because my car is actually an 87. I replaced the engine and wiring harness with 89 parts and the harness does not match the dash harness exactly. Had to splice in the fuel pump wire and apparently it bypassed the relay or something. Anyway, I can't figure out if there is something else wrong with her that I haven't checked. When I opened the crankcase cover there were parts of the damper all over the place and the chain was tight on one side and loose on the other. Obvious problem there. I had hoped that was it. Now that I have her back together she will at least start when the charge on the battery is strong. This $60 project has run into the hundreds now. I need to find out if I missed anything. I miss my car... it's summer and the T-Tops are nice for me and the kids.

Car would not start after it ran for more than 10 minutes. It has a new battery and alternator but voltage would drop. I found out I had "starter heat soak". The starter was getting too hot and would not start until it cooled off or was jump started. I bought a heat shield for $35.00 from summit racing online and after cutting the shield a bit because it wouldn't clear the exhaust, my problem is fixed.

I highly recommend this, it really sucks when you go somewhere and can't leave or have to ask a complete stranger for a jump. I hope this helps someone!