Engine quits (semi long)

You really need to start with the basics.

The son of a friend of mine had the same symptoms you describe, and it turned out to be,
1, A plug wire burned in two inside the insulation. (old style graphite core wires)
2. Completely worn out throttle shaft and accelerator pump linkage on the carb,
3. The bi-metal spring in the choke pull off had sprung, letting the choke stay half closed, so that was replaced.
4. (probably what was causing it to die) The cap and rotor look like they were a 100 years old inside.

We replaced everything from the distributor up on the ignition system, including plug wires, and slapped a rebuilt carb on it.
He says it's the best it's run in the five years he's owned it.
Hasn't done any tune up work in five years, so we did the PCV, PCV filter, air filter, checked timing, new plugs, cleaned all the connectors we could get to and filled them with dielectric grease, replaced the vacuum lines, ect, ect....

He drives 35 miles, each way, every week day to the local Jr. Collage, and said he was only getting about 8 mpg.
Said he didn't care about milage, dad was paying for his gas to drive back and forth...
Then I found out he hadn't change oil in a year... Just keeps pouring more in it once it starts knocking....
The guy at the local AutoJerks told him he never needed to change the filter if it burned or leaked more than a quart in 3,000 miles. The oil would, 'Change it's self'....
(You just can't help some people... They are truly doomed....)

You might try some emery cloth or very fine sand paper, and clean the rotor nose and plug towers in the cap. If you can't see clean and shiny metal, it's not clean enough.
If the cap has aluminum connections inside, throw it out and get one with brass terminals.
See if that helps.
Your best bet is new consumable ignition hardware, and clean all connections and make sure they are secure.
Checking to see if the choke is pulling off is always a good idea anytime you work on anything.

Once the ignition is squared away, post again and we'll tackle the carb and choke stuff.



If Chris Columbus "Discovered" America (with 25 million already here), Can I Go "Discover" Florida?

Other than wearing out the throttle shaft bushings in no time, the return spring wouldn't affect anything else.
(It would really create a vacuum leak by pulling the throttle shaft in the carb to one side, if the throttle shaft is worn out.)

It doesn't take real cold to affect a broken or limping choke. They can fall apart in the middle of the summer.

I'm not saying not to look at the other stuff, like choke pull off.
What I'm saying is, you said you were wanting to do the ignition upgrade anyway.
That removes a variable, and lets you know the ignition is verifiable good.
Clean all the connectors and connections, Re grease them with Dielectric grease. Now they are checked off the list,

Move to the fuel system or the vacuum support system...... and so on....
If you do it by the numbers, one thing right after the other, sooner or later you will find the problem, and your jeep will get some much needed tune up stuff!!

If you jump around to this, then that, then something else, you may never find the problem, and you just pissed your time and money away.

Proper diagnoses of a problem demands you start at the beginning of a system, and VERIFY EVERY SINGLE PART OF THAT SYSTEM.
There are no exceptions to this rule.

If you do hit and miss, you don't get the benefit of the tune up, and if you find the problem, you were just lucky.

If Chris Columbus "Discovered" America (with 25 million already here), Can I Go "Discover" Florida?

I have not had the jeep for that long, and I have just found out that the choke is a manual type with a pull knob inside, so I looked at it and it was in the open position all the time (I never used it). I looked at the electrical connections on the coil and I found 1 wire that is off (female elbow connector) Red with a black stripe that does not go anywhere. I looked in my book and could not find the corresponding wire in the electrical diagram.

Plug wires seem in good condition no soft spots. I started it let it run until warm and turned it off. I checked the plugs, they are a light brown (but smelled of gas and were wet on the threads with gas. So it is not burning all the gas (I think).

Sorry for the long posts I trying to narrow it down to something before I take it the shop for a tune up. I don't have the tools or knowledge "YET" to do a proper job.

Thanks
Lunatic