Rebuild 1600 engine troubles...

[Tim Opdencamp <notchback@geocities.com>]

Hi everybody,

LAst Saturday was THE day. We finished tuning my rebuild 1600 and I drove
for about 20 miles for the first time (with this engine). It ran great, no
problems, just a little shocky in the beginning.
First I want to tell you that the engine is tuned in neutral gear ( of
course ), and it runs fine that way, no shocking, stuthering or anything, it
runs smooth.
But here is the problem. In the morning ( cold ) the engine starts
immediatly, but I have to push the accelarator a few times to prevent it
from stalling ( pretty normal, no ? ). When I start driving then, the car
won't accelarate properly. It drives all shocky and shakes. I get the
feeling that the engine wants to accelarate, but can't do so. This
disappears after driving a few miles. Then the engine runs smoother ( in
gear ), but not perfectly. Also when I brake with the engine, it gives this
"puffy" sounds, is that called "backfire" ( sorry if this might seems as a
silly question )?  If it is backfire, what can I do about it ? I don't want
to drive around to long with an engine not runnin,g smoothly, because I
spent nearly 2000 $ on it. And I'm just a student, so my financial
sitiuation isn't too bright at the moment. 
About tha stuttering when running cold : the choke heater elements aren't
new ones ( dual carb ). They might not expand equaly, could this be the
cause why it runs so shocky ? It runs smooth(er) when the gearbox is in
neutral gear though.
andMaybe this will help. the exhaust fumes seem to come out in shocks, like
smoke-nothing-smoke-nothing-smoke-nothing...but faster than you can read this.
I hope there's a simple solution for all of this, because I would like to
drive my VW again, after being VW-less for about two months ( well, i drove
around in my mom's beetle, but that isn't the same )
Thanks for reading this, I hope someone can help me out on this one.

Tim Opdencamp