Maybe the choke isn't completely opening. Looking at the picture above, there is absolutely nothing to warm up the choke other than ambient air in the engine bay, and whatever heat it soaks from the carb main-body.
It looks like it's a hot air-only setup, (no electric) so you really want a hot-air tube coming from where ever it goes on your engine.

 

What Jon said. That last one is actually a vacuum leak. Not a big one mind you, but there is a direct port connection between the choke housing and the side of the carburetor. Supposed to have an o-ring or gasket between the two as well as a threaded cap or slip-over cap when not using the actual choke-stove setup on the exhaust manifold.

Also, any and all vacuum caps are suspect. The current crop of cheap auto parts store crap can leak literally within six months. I just replaced two large ones on an Explorer engine that were less than two years old, with less than 4000 miles on the engine. Even had some deteriorate in a few months just sitting on a never-run engine.
Well worth keeping a supply of them on hand when things start acting up.

And speaking of caps... In the last pic in post #10, isn't that the full vacuum port there under the front of the carburetor? Near where the idle/air mixture screws would be, you can just see it below the cast-in info, where the venturi size (1.21) is listed.

And one last thing while we're talking fixing things. I would replace that short section of rubber hose between the hard line from the pump and the filter at the carburetor. But before replacing the hose I would bend the steel line slightly so that it points more naturally at the barbed fitting on the filter.

Good luck.

Paul

 

Oh, and in all this, did you ever just turn up the idle speed screws? Sounds like you did everything else, but I did not see mention of that.
You could even advance the timing a couple of degrees first. This not only raises the idle, but gives things a head start if it doesn't ping. If it does, you simply back off a bit.
Then just run the screw up until it idles after it's hot.

What altitude are you? It was mentioned already, but worth saying again. The reman carb might have been jetted for anything. You never know. Even the PO could have re-jetted it leaner to suit his altitude if it happens to be different from yours.

Any time you fiddle with the timing and the idle speed screw, the idle/air mixture screws might need to be re-adjusted. It's a little circle dance where you do one, then the other, then do them all over again until they strike that balance you want.

The whole dying thing could have been the high-idle cam sticking up one notch when the carb's idle speed was originally set. Then when the linkage loosens up and the idle goes down one notch farther after the choke is open, you get a very low idle.

Lots of things it can be. Including the dreaded "all of the above" scenario!

Paul

 

The vacuum advance is going straight to the carb- Isn't it supposed to go on the vacuum tree?

 

Not necessarily.
In function, you can get basically the same signal directly from the manifold (vacuum tree) as you can from at least one of the fittings on the carb. But not all engines run best on full vacuum anyway.
If all the existing smog control and temp controlled spark stuff has been removed, I'd say that more engines benefit from "ported" or "timed" spark control from the upper port fitting on the carb. This is the one with zero vacuum at idle, but opens up once the throttle plates pass the slot.

Not all engines do of course, and I'm sure there are many here that run full vacuum with good effect. But enough prefer times vacuum advance that it's well worth trying both to see which one you prefer.
I've always run ported advance on all my Fords except for my '79 which has ALL smog stuff still installed and fully functional. So it gets full vacuum (I think?) but only when a series of TCS' (temperature controlled switches) tell it to.

Paul

 

where it is connected it gets full vacuum at idle... I dont think that is right... But as pointed out earlier: that choke is a hot air choke that is not enabled, therefore the choke is not acting right either. I would move that vacuum line to the distributor to the vacuum tree and see how much a difference it makes.

 

Your '79 smog truck has a 3 port PVS mounted on the thermostat housing. The ports attach to the intake manifold, Spark port on the carb, and the distributor. You get intake manifold vacuum until the port reaches a certain temp, then it switches to ported vacuum. Incidently, my 3 port is yellow opening at 160 degrees and my 2 port that hooks to my egr is blue opening at 130 degrees.


To bring this back to topic, the OP clearly has neither PVS so hooking up to manifold vac or ported vac is his choices. Many on here hook up to whichever runs best.

 

I know the choke isn't being fed warm air directly but the choke plate does open as it warms and that's when it starts to struggle.

 

as the plate opens and it starts to stall out if I cover just half of the plate to restrict air it picks back up.

 

I have tried to adjust idle screw but then it's racing, I've advanced timing which only helps a little. Idle mixture screws I keep trying to see if I can get a sweet spot with no help.

 

and I'm basically right at sea level here in Oceanside, CA.

 

Did it run right before you changed the spark plug wires? Your wires appear to be in the correct order, but they are all shifted one spot over if you look at the clip location online. From what I understand, it will run but your timing will not be the same that it was

 

Ran the same before I've changed anything.

 

Well you still have vacuum leaks to deal with, unless you've fixed them since the pics were taken.
Whether they test out as leaks or not (not sure which method you used to test) there are definitely leaks in your pics. At least the one small one at the choke fitting, but that's a very small one and would not cause this trouble normally.

What about that tube under the front I mentioned?

And maybe you should pop the top off of the carb to see if you can read the number on the main jets. I think the Ford ones are stamped in? Someone will know.
But if it was jetted wrong to begin with (too lean, just like with a vacuum leak) then this would be part of your trouble.

Paul

 

That is a sign it is too lean either by a vacuum leak(s) or the idle mix screws.

How many turns are the 2 idle mix screws out? Turn each one in counting the turns till they bottom out LIGHTLY and back them back out to that same point. Both should be the same number of turns out and as a guess 2.5 to 3 turns out to start with.

Was that carb on the truck when this all started?
What is that "thing" under that thick gasket just under the carb?
Also is there a gasket between that "thing" and intake manifold?

That little air leak at the choke housing is nothing and will not cause it to stall when warm. See that nipple just above the choke housing with no cap on it? That is were that choke fitting gets its air from. A rubber hose connects to a metal line going thru the exh. manifold that heats the air that then connects to the choke.

They make a copper line kit that you wrap around the exh manifold so it heats up the air and connects to the choke. Just run a hose to that copper line from that carb nipple.
Dave ----