I have a 1984 GSL-SE original motor. i removed the emissions system, the A/C, cruise control, and had to punch out the CAT because it was cloged. Other then that its all original.

it was running great up unto yesterday after work. It started back firing really bad (gun shot bad) with little loss in power. im not quite sure where to start on it.
there seems to be same amount of exhaust coming out of the muffler and i havent found any exhaust leaks. not sure if my muffler is clogged.

i tried doing research on here by no luck for me
any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

forgot to mention that at lower RPMs when i hit the throttle it sputters for a few seconds then accelerates.

 

Did you remove the air control valve? If so, check to make sure that the plate you bolted on in its place is sealed and not sucking in air. If that checks good I would look for something simple like a vacuum leak or even a cracked distributor cap.

 

Check the ACV plate. it seems to be sealed. checked the distributor cap. seems good. now going through the vacuum lines. so far nothing.

 

i removed my distributor completely cleaned it good. put it back in and now car wont start. i check plugs for spark and all is good. i did turn it over when i had the distributor cap off. could the car just be flooded?

 

ok, just to totally rule out an air leak, try spraying some carb cleaner around the vac lines and any place where you were working when you removed all the emissions stuff. If the idle changes, that where your leak is.

If that checks good, then I would look into the possibility that the car is running way too rich. Did you mess with any of the fusible links near the left strut tower? One of those links controls the EGI system. If burned up or even loose, the car will fun full rich. That's what happened to mine. How about your ignitors? Is the trailing ignitor working properly?

 

A back fire or actually an "after fire" could be caused by an exhaust leak.