Help.

I recently bought a 1973 volvo 144. It runs very well at high speeds, and most of the time at low speeds.

But: 1. It can take a long time to start, turning over until finally it catches. But once it has started, then it starts pretty much right away if you turn it off and then start it again.
2. After I turn off the ignition it continues to sputter for a few seconds. I think this is called 'dieselling'?
3. If the choke is in, and I put on the brakes to come to a stop at a light, or if I am just sitting there idling, the idle is very rough, and often it will stall. I just had it on my first long trip, travelling at 70mph for six hours, and after that trip the problem was worse. While at my destination I had to pull the choke out all the way when coming to a red light to keep it from stalling.
4. And at one point it would hardly run at all, even with the choke fully out. But that may be because I was just leaving the choke out while in the town that morning, because I was tired of pulling it out when I came to a stop sign. Did I possibly flood it?
4. I let the gas tank get very low on that trip. Pehaps there is gunk in it?

Any ideas to guide my mechanics?

Greg MacIsaac
gregory_macisaac@carleton.ca