cold engine acceleration problems

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

I need some help figuring out my engine problems:

The symptom is that while my engine is cold or warm (but not yet fully
warm), it idles okay, but any attempt at acceleration is counter-productive.
The engine coughs and sputters instead of increasing the RPMs. This doesn't
happen every time I start the car from cold, but it happens often enough to
be very annoying. I am wondering if this could be due to a bad warm-up
regulator (a/k/a control pressure regulator). I paid a local mechanic $750
to replace this part a few months ago. It was $500 for the regulator and
$250 for the labor.

Question 1: Are these symptoms indicative of a bad regulator?

Question 2: Did my local mechanic rip me off for replacing this regulator
before?

Question 3: If the problem is the regulator, is it possible to take it apart
and fix it? i.e., could it be clogging up with fuel system crud?

Also, I got busy reading the service manual and figured that maybe my
problem was in the cold start circuit. So I checked the thermo-time switch
(a/k/a temperature switch). I found that it is permanently stuck in the
cold position no matter how warm the engine gets.

Question 4: Since the cold start circuit is only active while the starter is
engaged and failure of the thermo-time switch could cause flooding, is my
problem a flooded engine?

Question 5: Could flooding of my engine cause it to not accelerate well
until the engine is warmed up? Or is the warm-up problem caused by
something other than a stuck thermo-time switch?

Question 6: If 12 volts from the starter circuit is applied to the heater in
the thermo-time switch, how long will it take for it to open the circuit?
What I want to know is if these switches are meant to open-circuit before
the starter disengages. Or does it take continued starting attempts to heat
this switch enough to open the circuit to prevent flooding?

Question 7: Where is the best place to buy a new thermo-time switch? Do I
get it locally, or should I buy it online? How much should I pay, and what
part cross-reference should I ask for?

Also, while I was diagnosing the above problems, I noticed that my radiator
fan thermostat (a/k/a cooling fan switch) is dripping coolant. And it also
sounds like it is out of range.

Question 8: See question 7 only now I'm looking for a different switch.

Question 9: Instead of replacing this switch with the same thing that can
leak, would it be better to plug this bad-engineering fiasco and replace it
with a surface mounted thermostat instead? And if so, how, who and what is
involved?

Good luck answering these!

Walt Tampa, FL