here is my setup.

stock carb, emmissions removed and choke mechanics removed. I operate the choke by the cable by hand. new plugs and cap&rotor.

I had a difficult time to adjust the carb and when I got it to run it ran rough. once warmed up it I could get it to idle at 750 rpm @ 17 cmHg of vacuum. the shutter valve has also been removed and patched.

the engine is seasoned with 200000 miles of fun.

here is what is happening now. when I crank the engine and she dosen't start the tach maybe goes up to 250-500 rpm. when I took the spark plugs out to unflood the car. the car peaked at 4000 rpm while cranking. I can get it to fire briefly now but that is all. I believe I may have the the carb mis adjusted. Or is the ol' 12a showing signs of death?

the cold weather exaggerates everything

 

I dunno, didn't I read something in here about a bad igniter causing the tach to go squirrelly? You might have a bad igniter. Do a search on "tach" and/or "igniter" and see what you find. I'd do it for ya, but I'm too lazy tonight

 

the vacuum is in inHg not cmHg, sorry.

 

It doesn't seem to be a gas problem or cranking/ignition problem since it sometimes starts up briefly. I don't have my manuals here, so I don't know what those vacuum readings mean.

How about compression?.. maybe the car has been sitting and the chamber seals have been affected, and the compression is too low?.. no, that's probably not it.

Cold weather exaggerates things, but this is a puzzler... ^bump