1969 Chevy C20 396

[phil2013]

New to forum. I recently bought a very clean 1969 Pickup. It is a two wheel drive and has a very clean body with no rust.

the timing seems to slip, seems to the retarded side, causing it to lose power. I'm looking to do some easy horsepower fixes for under 800.00. any one have suggestions to wake up this old 396, I know it has much more power than it is presently doing, it's kind of a dog. electronic ignition and carb work?, if so, what kind works best. I just use it as a daily driver and may tow once in a while with it. (small boat)

It presently has a small holley carb on it. (i actually prefer the old quadra jets) (high school days) Also what kind of carbs go best on these? I had a 396 in high school and it was much more a power keg than this truck.

anyone know some good mechanics in salt lake area?

I will post pics.

[Longhorn 70]

first welcome... Those are cool old trucks. The 396 that year was peppy to say the least.

second, what do yo mean the timing seems to slip? Is the distributor moving? Does it still use points?

[phil2013]

yes, it has stock dist and has points. the bolt is tight on the dist but seems to slip? prev owner said it has an rv cam, but i can't confirm that

I was told this orig came with a 350 but they had a mechanic do a 396 conversion in the mid eighties, (have the receipt) from the prev owner.

[truckster]

Welcome to the board from a fellow Utahn.

An HEI and a good rebuilt Quadrajet would help wake that motor up.

[Longhorn 70]

If the distributor slips, that could just be it has a wrong hold down on it or the bolt isn't really tight. it could be a few things. I'd mark the distributor positon, pull the hold down off and check bolt, hold down and block to make sure they are all like they should be.

I have also seen caps that have the notch smoothed or broken off still work. They don't lock onto the distributor like they should. Check that.

With points when the rubbing block starts to wear, it does retard timing and increase dwell also. You may want to look at that when you pull the cap to look at the notch.

[phil2013]

Originally Posted by truckster

Welcome to the board from a fellow Utahn.

An HEI and a good rebuilt Quadrajet would help wake that motor up.

I was told the quadrajets at auto zone are a pos. where can i get a good one? and what kind of hei do you recommend?

thanks

[phil2013]

Originally Posted by Longhorn 70

If the distributor slips, that could just be it has a wrong hold down on it or the bolt isn't really tight. it could be a few things. I'd mark the distributor positon, pull the hold down off and check bolt, hold down and block to make sure they are all like they should be.

I have also seen caps that have the notch smoothed or broken off still work. They don't lock onto the distributor like they should. Check that.

With points when the rubbing block starts to wear, it does retard timing and increase dwell also. You may want to look at that when you pull the cap to look at the notch.

I appreciate that, i will check that. thanks!

[69GWC]

Stick a HEI in it some new plugs and some good wires and maybe a new Street Avenger Holley carb, maybe a good aluminum intake.
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[yuccales]

I'd check that timing, dwell, vacuum. Check the choke pull-off to make sure you are not running around on just the primaries, check for burned plug wires. BTW, welcome to the forum.

[truckster]

Originally Posted by phil2013

I was told the quadrajets at auto zone are a pos. where can i get a good one? and what kind of hei do you recommend?

thanks

Guaranteed Carburetors in Florida seems to have a really good price on them. If you have any mechanical inclination and think you might want to tackle rebuilding a Quadrajet yourself, there's an excellent book by Cliff Ruggles available. His website is http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/ I got my current Quadrajet off of a 1980 Cadillac at a pick-n-pull yard, but it's kind of hard to find them in one piece.

I run a stock HEI; I think I got it from a 1978 Chevy or GMC truck. It works great. You'll need to upgrade your wires, and make sure you have 12 volts to the HEI; the stock distributor uses a resistor wire to get 6 volts.

[ole dollor]

welcome to the forum from Texas...what everyone else has said is a good place to start, also if the dist. shaft is tight it could make the dist. slip around. make sure it spins free..

[71veronica]

first off welcome to the best porn site. We love pics.

[phil2013]

thanks for the welcomes! would love to load some pics of my new ride. had one of these in high school!

so is that correct i can not load a pic from my pictures on my pc? where do you guys store your pics online?

[RANDAL]

Welcome from Utah

[69GWC]

Www.photobucket.com. is a good place.
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[phil2013]

heres my baby

[phil2013]

http://i1310.photobucket.com/albums/...psccf9f697.jpg

[truckster]

Originally Posted by phil2013

thanks for the welcomes! would love to load some pics of my new ride. had one of these in high school!

so is that correct i can not load a pic from my pictures on my pc? where do you guys store your pics online?

Sure you can. Just use the "Manage Attachments" option below the text box.

[71veronica]

very clean how much did you pay? few upgrades i would do is aluminium intake, headers, and an edelbrock carb. thats just me though

[Heavy Evy]

I saw that rig on ksl. Nice buy! I'm jealous of that big block! I will have one someday.
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[Already Gone]

When you found your truck for sale was it parked right near Interstate 15 not to far South of Salt Lake City ?
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[phil2013]

Originally Posted by 71veronica

very clean how much did you pay? few upgrades i would do is aluminium intake, headers, and an edelbrock carb. thats just me though

i paid 4500.

probably get the intake and headers later. will get the hei and carb redone for now

[phil2013]

Originally Posted by Already Gone

When you found your truck for sale was it parked right near Interstate 15 not to far South of Salt Lake City ?
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nope, i snagged it out of washington state, which explains no rust

[Sicklajoie]

Hey that's a slick looking ride! Congrats!