I did a quick search and couldn’t find much. The car is currently parked in my tight garage and I have to pull it out to do any real work. I’ve finished replacing all the seals and innards. Basically trying to figure out what to do next. The only gauge that is working is the speedometer and the wires are a bit of a mess. I work as a prototyping engineer and have 24/7 access to a pretty amazing shop. I’m thinking about redoing the whole harness but would like to source connectors before starting. Maybe fixing the current rats nest would be easier…Often when putting the car in reverse and letting it roll back it stalls. It happened a few times when I pulled it out all the way down the driveway. It seems to happen when I’m backing down hills. Where should I begin with diagnosing the problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. It has a 302 and I’m considering the fuel injection conversion.
Does anyone have any thoughts or input on this? Any help or a starting point would be great. Sorry for being a complete Noob.
You may have provided this in another thread, what year cougar is it, what options etc? Sounds like you just rebuilt the motor 
Typically this is caused when the car is cold and the choke is not working properly.
The second most likely cause would be ignition timing incorrect, distributor not adjusted properly, or distributor not working properly.
We don’t know if your car is stock, modified, or anything else. These cars didn’t have stalling problems when they were new. If you have a problem like that it is not hard to fix provided you are willing to learn how to tune the car properly.
Ok, just searched your prior posts and you have a 67, I thought seals and innards were engine comment but they weren’t. Since you mentioned wiring I would download (for free from WCCC) the schematic link below. Another possibility is you’ve got a vacuum problem, I would double check that along with Royce’s suggestions. Vacuum issues can have you chasing ghosts
It is so sweet to jump into a 100% stock 2V small block and turn the key as per the instructions on the visor and have it start instantly and be able to put it in gear and go on a cold day. It really is that easy on a perfectly tuned engine with operational choke.
https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.com/dl0229.html?attribs=75
Does sound like it’s just in need of a good idle tuning and choke adjustment. Get yourself a timing light, vacuum gauge and tach (if not equipped) and go to town. There’s tons of videos out there to walk you through it on your specific carburetor. If you’re interested in fuel injection follow along my thread, after the holidays I’ll be tackling an EFI install on my car.
Thank you for all of the advice. That gives me a couple of good places to start. I bought the car just 2 months ago on craigslist. It’s a base model with a 302 that one of the owners put in it. I haven’t done enough poking around to give more info. All my time has been spent fixing the doors, windows and seals which are luckily now all done.
Is this a cold only problem?
No, I’m in California and it’s not that cold.
It has an Edelbrock 1406 Carburetor. After talking the issue through with a couple of friends they think the floats are too low. It looks like I’ll be taking it apart next weekend. Any tips?
The Edelbrock manual has the float adjustment steps on page 8:
https://www.edelbrock.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/documents/carb-owners-manual.pdf
Thanks everyone for all of the help. I finally had a chance to diagnose the problem. I checked the timing on the engine with a timing light and it looked good. I then disassembled the carburetor and the floats were actually high. After adjusting those, I checked a spark plug which was pretty dirty and black. It looks like the car was running rich. Any suggestions on new spark plugs? Iridium was recommended by a friend.
I finally drove it over the weekend and it’s running way better but still stalled when pulling it out. I’m now thinking it might be the vacuum. Any suggestions on vacuum gauges?
Pretty much the same, just depends on whats local to you
The overwhelming help is always much appreciated. I should have posted much earlier as I think I have finally fixed the problem. After originally thinking it was the floats in the carburetor or the timing, I finally checked the vacuum pressure and it was super low 10-11. I went ahead and changed the vacuum advance, which then advanced the timing. When I dialed the timing back and adjusted the carburetor the car is now running at about 15. It sounds way better and has yet to stall in reverse. Thanks for all of the help. Hopefully this maybe helps someone else.