Valve Cover Question

[dmjlambert]

I doubt the open PCV system with the setup you have is causing your issue with idling and performance. A carburetor usually has 2 idle settings, one is normal idle screw that can be adjusted to give you appropriate idle when the engine is warm, and a fast idle screw that adjusts the idle to a higher speed when the choke is activated. The fast idle adjustment has a little cam that steps down the fast idle to normal idle in about 3 steps as the engine gets up to normal operating temperature and the choke opens more and more. You may notice that when your engine is started from cold, if you let it warm up without touching the gas pedal the idle stays the same and is fast. If you press and release the gas pedal a little after a couple minutes, it may step down to a slower idle. And finally when the engine is warmed up, it steps down to the final normal idle speed.

If you take your air cleaner off and show some pictures of the carburetor, there will be folks who can tell you what kind of carburetor you have and how to adjust the idle on it.