Well, it makes sense. After I got the engine out of the green car there was still probaby some fuel puddled in the fuel rail, and four years is enough time for gasoline to turn to shellac, and for the shellac to turn into that yellowish powdery residue which you can't remove from anything without resorting to a blowtorch and hand grenades.
Every time I try to start a carbeurated engine which has sat for a very long time, the first thing I have to do is remove the carb and thoroughly clean it of all that yellow powder. There is probably not much of that crap in the fuel injectors, but there is obviously enough to make the engine run like crap.
If I had used the intake assembly from the red car's engine....
I put 65 miles on the car today, driving to New Lenox and then going to the oriental grocery store in Orland Park. Two miles after I put the injector cleaner into the tank, the car was running better.
It's still not 100%. When the engine is under load with the throttle open (high load, low RPM) it stumbles like crazy. But the car is already a hell of a lot more drivable than it was, and I expect that a couple days' worth of driving the thing will flow enough cleaner-enhanced gas through the injectors to take care of the rest. If not, I can always replace 'em.
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This post by Michelle Malkin contains information which bolsters my opinion of the "Slaughter solution" as unconstitutional.
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As for me, the scratchy throat I had yesterday has morphed into a chest cold. The scratchy throat continues, of course. I feel like crap.
Well, I don't think there's anything else I have to do today.