stalling??

James,

Given the fuel mileage problem along with the stalling problem, the carb is a reasonable suspect. Assuming you are filling your tank and only getting 100 miles per tank, that works out to about 7 mpg...pretty bad even for a V8 MII!

I would pull it and rebuild it your self...you'll learn a ton, save some money, and probably do as well as any mechanic that hasn't worked on a carb in 10 years.

You'll need some wrenches, some fuel line, a rebuild kit, a can of carb cleaner, big flat and phillips screwdrivers, a metal pan to soak the parts, needle-nose pliers and your MII repair manual. Label the hoses and cables before you remove the carb, disassemble, lay the parts out on newspaper, clean, and reassemble with new parts from the kit.

Assuming you don't have the California VV 2bbl carb, it shouldn't be too bad. And the 2bbl Motorcraft carb on the 302 is simpler than the 2bbl Weber/Motorcraft carb on the 2.3L and 2.8L anyday.

A couple of things come to mind with these symptoms...

Did you set the float level by the instructions during the rebuild? This could affect having too much or too little gas available in the carb.

I'm going to make the assumption that you got the vacuum hoses back on according to the book.

Have you checked the condition of your gas tank? You could have a bunch of rust clogging your fuel sock. If you found a bunch of dirt in your carb during the rebuild, this could be a sign of gas tank problems. Add a large gas filter before your carb to keep it clean. If the tank is a rusty mess, remove it and have it lined.

You could be having ignition problems.
-Do you have a good tune up (plugs, wires, cap, rotor)?
-Have you checked the grounds and connections for the Duraspark box?

And the worst possibiity...how old is your cam and timing chain?
-You could have so much slack in the timing chain that your timing is way off. Usually if you have jumped a tooth, the engine won't run at all, but a really slack chain usually comes first.
-You could have a cam lobe worn down or (more likely) a lifter or rocker or pushrod damaged.

I mention the timing stuff because "the exhaust sounds funny" doesn't sound like fuel or ignition.

Let us know what you find.

Did you replace the power valve? Not all rebuild kits come with one.