delayed acceleration problem

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

I'm having a weird acceleration problem that I need some help diagnosing.
When I accelerate, the engine hesitates for 2 or 3 seconds before it really
starts to develop horsepower. It makes no difference whether I am driving
or sitting with the transmission in park. Having the engine hot or cold
makes no difference either.

When in park, I slowly press the accelerator and the RPMs increase
accordingly. After about 2 seconds into this procedure, the RPMs will jump
up considerably as though something was holding the engine back and then let
go.

I get the same problem while leaving a stop light. The car seems to
hesitate until I get to about the middle of the intersection where it
finally really decides to take off.

I thought it might be my idle speed microswitch sticking, but giving it a
quick ear test, it clicks off with the slightest movement of the throttle.
I'll ohm it out later to be sure.

Otherwise, I'm thinking that maybe my idle speed motor may be sticking or
running too slow. Is this likely?

Another thought might be that something might be going wrong with the spark
curve in my distributor. But I'm not experienced enough to know the best
place to start looking. So help! Please!

Could this problem be voltage related? I have a new Optima battery and a
140 amp alternator, but the alternator doesn't really start putting out
voltage until my RPMs increase from idle. Maybe this is the problem? I
need RPMs to get RPMs?

Another idea is that maybe my spark coil is weak and needs the higher
voltage associated with the higher RPMs to make it work at peak performance?

Also, I just noticed tonight that the two rear idle adjustment screws were
backed all the way out! I'm quite pissed to find this out but glad to
correct it. However, it hasn't made any noticeable difference on my idle
speed. According to the tach, it is idling between 900 to 1000 RPMs as
usual. It also hasn't made any difference in my 'turbo lag' acceleration
problem. For the record, my car has no turbo.

Thanks in advance,
Walt Tampa, FL