May be giving up my wagon in frustration

Knowledge is power, a compression guage is cheap, and if you're into old cars ya better learn how to use one. He, if as you said, does not have the desire, then it's time to move it along to someone who does, or fork out a bunch of cash to people he doesn't know, and leave his fate in their hands, rather than his own.
A simple vacuum guage and compression test can tell you soooo much.
Old cars require a commitment of time and money.

 

All good points. The ONLY thing I would disagree on is the outside help.
BUT...here's a sentence in 72Kings original post....
QUOTE:
My dad is a good old Chevy mechanic and said he would help me, but he is very busy with his business and really dont have time, nor do I want to bother anyone over it.

72KING...why would you NOT have your dad, at the very least, check the engine as Andy suggests? Andy's point about moving it along to someone that WANTS the car and is willing to invest time and money to make it right may be a good one. Maybe that's really what you want to do in the end. Maybe you love old cars but are unwilling to live with the requirements. "...don't want to bother anyone over it...". That statement may be the best clue as to your real desires. If the car isn't important enough to BOTHER someone with...you may be right. Maybe you should just sell it to someone that will.

 

I wouldnt give up just yet... as a lot of us know, if you get rid of it, you'll regret it later. Keep searching for that 'magical' technician that knows how to tune/fix your car. I had 2 experiences similar, one was with an old British Triumph Spitfire... couldnt get it to run well if my life depended on it and always had little issues. I finally found a guy that didnt even speak good english that made it purr like a kitten - turns out his specialty was these old Triumphs with side-draft carbs. Same thing happened with my 70 Impala... found the right guy and it ran so quiet when I picked it up, that you could barely hear it was running. BOTH guys were from tiny hole in the wall auto shops that reminded me of something you would find in the middle of the desert.

Keep looking.. ask friends etc... you'll find 'the person'.

 

Reminds me of my friend, LB. His shop is TINY. People wonder how he can even make a living out of it. But he can make an engine sing. He builds performance stuff that seems to go like hell and, amazingly, stays together. I've never seen such a small hole in the wall garage that produces such beautiful work. Together, we have done a lot of stuff over the years and his shop is still the same size it was back in the 30's when it was a little gas staion.

 

You REALLY NEED a compression gauge. All the tuning in the world won't a sick engine.

 

Yes.

Not on big things, but do know how to check compression though and change plugs, etc. We checked the compression before the new cam, so we knew something was not right - one cylinder was low. AFAIK, he checked compression again and it was fine, but I guess we need to check it ourselves before going on. I guess I assumed new cam/lifters took care of all of that.

LOL.

Thanks. The $500 was what I had invested after all parts and labor - maybe a little less. We really only had him put in new cam, lifters, gaskets, etc. I hope the cam is right... its the one the auto shop gave me when I told them I needed a cam for a '72 Caprice wagon with a 402.

Well, the guy was supposedly a old friend of my dads and supposedly knew all about these cars. Guess not. I mainly wanted it to have power and smoothness so I could drive it. Could not afford a complete rebuild. I was guessing it didnt need all of that other things.

I am... as soon as he gets a chance I guess... it may be awhile. I guess it will stay covered up for a few more months.

Got one... we will check it again soon.

Guess I will keep the car and hope there is something left of it by the time I get it running.

Thanks for all of the replies / advice.

 

25 years ago I took out a (emission) 455 from a Riviera and stumbled upon the same problem. Took me a while in the pre-internet era to find out there were Chassis Manuals of each model year and also managed to buy one.... best buy in 25 years. Exploded views helped me out in no-time.
Isn't there a factory manual for Chevrolet??