List, well i wound up getting my timing checked and my timing was off by 6 degrees. as soon as that was adjusted, my car has ceased idleing erratically when warm. now i have NO complaints with driveability!!! finally after 3 years everything seems to be working beautifully... the car starts up immediately every time, hot or cold, surges for about a minute or so when cold at leisurely cycle until it finds the 'sweet spot' and idles at around 750 smooth as can be, and it doesn't fluctuate from that no matter how long i drive the car. my only complaints NOW are: 1. i'm barely getting 12 mpg in town (mostly on city streets, not much highway). i have a manual and i don't abuse it. any ideas? 2. when i start the car cold in the morning and don't let it warm up, the car starts to sputter around 2500-3000 RPM no matter what gear you are in. this continues for only 2 or 3 blocks. extremely short lived problem, but happens almost every time. why? 3. when i start the car cold, it still smells kinda rich, but not nearly as bad as it did when the timing was off. is this normal or should i not be able to smell the exhaust? once the car is warm, the exhaust is almost non-existant. as suggested in previous posts, i have checked all vacuum lines - good. throttle - good. three brass screws - seated. cold start valve does NOT leak when warm. vacuum is present at the proper places when hot/cold, and not present when it shouldn't be. timing? good now (set to factory specs). ALL ignition parts are about a year old. here are a couple things to consider - i have a cat eliminator pipe, accell performance coil, K&N air filter. might make a difference? the only thing i haven't done that i can think of is get the fuel/air mixture professionally checked. there are no shops in my area that have the equipment. is this the final task? any other ideas are greatly appreciated. i'm getting very close to wrapping this up! Andy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]