Well, the 318 has been in the shop all week long with an old school highly trained Mopar mechanic checking every crack and crevice for problems.
They found some oddities, and took care of them....including an advance system that was acting erratic.........coil wasn't up to snuff either, so we put a new one on. Better running, BUT still stalled at idle when in drive.......
They calibrated and recalibrated the carb (Edelbrock 1405, brand new), but could not find the problem with the stall........they were pulling their hair out.
Finally, after checking everything down to the torque converter, they put a DIFFERENT carb on the car.......took a Holley directly off a crate motor in the garage, and the car ran PERFECTLY at an idle in drive...........total cure.
To those who will no doubt come racing to Edelbrock's defense from their own experience, let me state this very clearly..........IF YOU had been through what I have with this new carb, you would think VERY differently at this point.
We're installing a dual feed Holley 670 Street Avenger as this is being written. All I can say is "Live and Learn".
I don't know if Edelbrock will warranty this or not (I certainly don't want another one.........)....................and I'm thankful that the other problems were discovered............but this "new" carb has cost me loads, and I will never buy another one for ANY car.
If they had been able to recalibrate or adjust the carb and get it to idle properly in drive (doesn't sound too complex.........), I would not be speaking here........but after my efforts with it for 2 months, and then their efforts for another week, I've had it.
Holley, here I come.