hesitation during accel. - 02 sensor or air leak? (archive)

My 81 is running pretty well now. Idles well and power is surprisingly good. I've adjusted the valves and cleaned and gapped the plugs. The plugs were gapped really wide (or perhaps just worn) when they were removed. Set to spec now. Inside the valve cover area was pretty sludgy but I guess thats expected for 214K miles. Doesn't smoke at all regardless.
Anyway, while I'm picking up speed I can feel a slight hesitation in power. Power is good but it feels like rapid intermittant power losses (or the other way around). Definately gives a promising feel of more power if I can determine the cause. The distributor only has about 1000 miles on it. I'm thinking either an air leak or perhaps something with the 02 sensor.

Questions:

Is there a common air leak area that I should look first?

How do I test the 02 sensor and what are symptoms of it failing? How often are they supposed to be replaced?

Peter S

Follow Ups:

Maybe fuel pump? Check fuel hoses, filter, too. MartyR 18:36 4/22/2001 (0)

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