'66 GMC BBW w/351E and Factory Buckets

[RockTonka]

So, this is a keeper huh?

My son started working on cleaning it up and seeing what works and what doesn't...I'll let him fill in the details.

Few more pics...

[oklahomaduner]

Well I got out and played with it today, drained the oil (no grit), checked the trans. fluid (looks new), drained the gas (3 gallons and no dirt or rust flakes). Replaced oil filter, rubber fuel lines, and fuel filter. (blew through the lines and they seemed clear) Set a battery in it, it turns over and wants to start but the carb is missing pieces and isnt working right so I believe we are going to try to find a 500 cfm 2-bbl Holley to put on and go from there.

The car wash cleaned the paint and chrome a lot, and with a little window cleaning, vacuuming, and air in the tires she is looking better and better!

Found an oil leak, but it just turned out to be an old pressure guage line broken. Just working through the basics, but we havent found any real problems yet.

[mikie 1954]

Thanks for your reply. Wasn't trying to be a smartass or anything was hopeing you had a way of telling the # of times it had turned.BTW nice find & I hope your luck holds up on everything.

[jchav62]

What a find!! Congrats!!

[CMACDONALD1]

Nice Truck! I have never seen original bucket seats in one of those trucks before and come to think of it I dont think I have seen padded door panels either. It looks like someone has changed it over to 5 lug as well. I say clean it up real nice and put some different wheels on it and drive it.

[DPowers]

Cool- congrats

[RockTonka]

Well, the rear end is 5-lug and the front 6-lug...

[oklahomaduner]

Well I ran the truck by the car wash again today and blasted out the engine bay. Brought her home, pulled the plugs and started testing the compression. Every cylinder hit 120 psi except for the drivers side middle cylinder. First time it hit 80, second time it hit 90, poured a bit out oil in it and it hit 100. We stopped there for the evening due to sleet and some nice cold wind that was rolling in. But I got a chance to pick up some Marvel Mystery oil that we'll drop into all the cylinders, oil, and gas so hopefully the rings will loosen up a bit.
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[Bugeyev8]

Originally Posted by oklahomaduner

Well I ran the truck by the car wash again today and blasted out the engine bay. Brought her home, pulled the plugs and started testing the compression. Every cylinder hit 120 psi except for the drivers side middle cylinder. First time it hit 80, second time it hit 90, poured a bit out oil in it and it hit 100. We stopped there for the evening due to sleet and some nice cold wind that was rolling in. But I got a chance to pick up some Marvel Mystery oil that we'll drop into all the cylinders, oil, and gas so hopefully the rings will loosen up a bit.
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Just fire it up and re check, compression #s don't mean **** after an engine has been sitting a long time...trust me I have run at leat 50 engine that had low to no compression and 9 out of 10 times they will come right back after they blow the crud and rust out of them

[skoffice]

Dude nice find! Thats a cool looking trim package! Is the white on the top half of the bed the way it came from factory? And this is random but in the top pic on this page that is one wicked looking chimney on that house haha.

[oklahomaduner]

Originally Posted by Bugeyev8

Just fire it up and re check, compression #s don't mean **** after an engine has been sitting a long time...trust me I have run at leat 50 engine that had low to no compression and 9 out of 10 times they will come right back after they blow the crud and rust out of them

Yea, we are hopeful that this is the case. The next step for us is to chase down a carb and we will more than likely do the hei conversion. But after that we should be in business. .
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[oklahomaduner]

Originally Posted by skoffice

Dude nice find! Thats a cool looking trim package! Is the white on the top half of the bed the way it came from factory? And this is random but in the top pic on this page that is one wicked looking chimney on that house haha.

Thanks man! Yup, the paint is all original. That is how she came from the factory.

A tornado got the chimney...
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[nbrfd007]

Man that is a great truck! You will like what the 500 holley and the HEI will do for it. Now if you get tired of working on it, I will come take it off you hands. It's a keeper.
Tim

[chev-obsession]

Looks like it would be a sweet build and has lots of potential!

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by mikie 1954

Thanks for your reply. Wasn't trying to be a smartass or anything was hopeing you had a way of telling the # of times it had turned.BTW nice find & I hope your luck holds up on everything.

Very good original upholstry ( not common ) and plenty of fawn paint still on steering wheel ( not common ) help make the conlusion it may be original low mileage. The optional paint scheme is '62 thru '66 GMC factory work, and looks like most of the paint is original, however here is some evidence that the front end was touched up, notice the blue overspray on radiatior support panels.

[oklahomaduner]

Originally Posted by factorystock

Very good original upholstry ( not common ) and plenty of fawn paint still on steering wheel ( not common ) help make the conlusion it may be original low mileage. The optional paint scheme is '62 thru '66 GMC factory work, and looks like most of the paint is original, however here is some evidence that the front end was touched up, notice the blue overspray on radiatior support panels.

It looks to me like it did have another coat added to it at some point, but they painted it with the exact same color so it's not as obvious in some places. I have yet to find a single sign of body work though.
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[oklahomaduner]

Hey guys, I pulled the carb off yesterday and found that there is a rochester with a little adapter plate that doesnt look factory. Now from all the research I've done it seems that a Stromberg came stock on the 351E.

Does anyone know for sure which carb came from the factory?

We are at the point where we have to do something for a carb and we need some input. Now from what I've read a lot of people are using the Holley 2 BBL 500's on these motors and love them. I've also read that the 500 is too much carb, too rich, and are really hard to get tuned in properly for these engines. Now the options we are looking at are, 1. Rebuild the carb we have. 2 Chase down a Stromberg (if that was stock) or 3. Pull together everything for the Holley. We aren't looking for big power, just an easy to start, reliable motor.

Has anyone worked on these motors or does anyone have some input on this? Any help would be great!

[Bugeyev8]

That Rochester Dual jet is a way better carb than the factory stromberg, I would just kit it and run it, I ran one on my stock 283 for 20 years and never any issues but a sunk float once...7$ at the time and I was running again

Originally Posted by oklahomaduner

Hey guys, I pulled the carb off yesterday and found that there is a rochester with a little adapter plate that doesnt look factory. Now from all the research I've done it seems that a Stromberg came stock on the 351E.

Does anyone know for sure which carb came from the factory?

We are at the point where we have to do something for a carb and we need some input. Now from what I've read a lot of people are using the Holley 2 BBL 500's on these motors and love them. I've also read that the 500 is too much carb, too rich, and are really hard to get tuned in properly for these engines. Now the options we are looking at are, 1. Rebuild the carb we have. 2 Chase down a Stromberg (if that was stock) or 3. Pull together everything for the Holley. We aren't looking for big power, just an easy to start, reliable motor.

Has anyone worked on these motors or does anyone have some input on this? Any help would be great!

[jonzcustomshop]

do some research on :'
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/

they even have a forum for v6 motors. probably good carb info there.

[RockTonka]

Been there, done that...plus a lot more. Our research leaves us undecided on whether or not to drop the $300 on the Holley 4412. We believe that's the best solution, but are looking for some real time feed-back from the board before pulling the trigger.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

I don't have experience with the V-6, but I do with that Rochester 2-jet, its a good carb that I think is already an upgrade to that stromberg but not much worse than the Holley 500 if at all. Also since you have it already, just going for a rebuild kit gives you a few hundred bucks to spend elsewhere on the truck.

A new carb is a new carb though, right?

[oklahomaduner]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm ruling out the Stromberg... I'm still up in the air between the Rochester and holley. I already have the adapter for this rochester so a quick rebuild and I should be in good shape for about $100. But I still cant kick the holley out of my mind for some reason. For about $275 I can get the Holley but I still need an adapter.

[RockTonka]

Originally Posted by TwoFiftyShifter

I don't have experience with the V-6, but I do with that Rochester 2-jet, its a good carb that I think is already an upgrade to that stromberg but not much worse than the Holley 500 if at all. Also since you have it already, just going for a rebuild kit gives you a few hundred bucks to spend elsewhere on the truck.

A new carb is a new carb though, right?

Yea, the new carb sounds good, but I think we're going to take baby steps right now and just get the existing Rochester rebuilt.

Thanks for the input.

[sailed2japan]

Man that is killer. I'm a big fan of resto-mods, but IMO this is one to put back to 100% original.

[kieth]

glad someone saved another GMC, especially one so loaded with options. Mine is just plain jane 250 6 3 on tree, am modifying it now. If you need some factory stuff let me know I am modifying my gmc as a daily driver, tbi 350, 700r4, steering, tilt, a/c but trying to leave it stock with the white grill and baby blue paint, may change it to green and white but have not decided yet. Here is a link to my build.

http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-G...67555158_RNLWE

Okies Rule------------------------Kieth in Tulsa----------------