Projects No spark from coil, no start

Hey, thank you all, I got it figured out after changing plugs and a new used distributor and new plug wires etc I had to go round and round the distributor til i found the correct placing of the wires and she cranked to life once again!!

 

Now I have another question, if you all don't mind.
I need to adjust My hand brake that locks the drive shaft. And I have tried tightening it, by the bolts that go through a spring and the plates between what looks like brake shoes??
There is also a smaller bolt to tighten the E - brake handle, have tried adjusting both of these but it ends up being too tight or too loose by only crank or 2 of the adjusting bolts. I have never done this before, so am in new territory. I do not know the correct adjustment settings at all.
Any help and suggestions are muchly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.

 

Ok, so here I go again.. Now that it's time to get ready for winter.. I have no heat!! My heate r core is leaking and puts out a big fat zero heat!!

Does anybody have or know of where I can get a heater core for My truck?
I was told to look on here and ask, so forgive Me if this is the wrong area to ask as you all know that I am still newb here.
I took pics of My heater core to try give better description

I'll take a couple more pics tomorrow in daylight cus I now have the core its self out of the housing

Thanks in advance everybody

 

if you have a rad repair shop in your area that was the place to go before today's throw away mentality.

 

If you can't find the "correct" core for some reason, just about any core that will physically fit will work just fine. A little strategic fabricatin' might be required. Should save some money too.

 

Thank you

 

Yes I think there might be one or two near Me. Thank you

 

New heater cores are around, but any radiator shop should be able to fix yours unless it is totally rotten. You may want to look for a factory manual for the truck. It will be a big help.
https://www.themotorbookstore.com/1...y6JApjfZXJTnRqQKJOdzdsGFH_3FVGdRoC4kUQAvD_BwE

 

Hi all.. Got the heater core to stop leaking. Radiator stop-leak and now the heat is cranking! ☺
Its only a temporary fix for now but at least it works.

Wanted to let ya know how its going.
So far so good

 

Hey everybody, just some tinkering this weekend and found that My choke is not completely setup. I have the cable and bracket but no idea where they go. Someone before Me disconnected it and I would like to reconnect and make sure that it is in proper working order before it gets too much colder and snow starts falling here.
Can anyone help Me?
Thanks in advance.

 

Look for an "arm" that moves the ****erfly. The wire goes thru a hole , then the bracket should be fairly obvious. Unless something is missing.

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1) be sure cable moves with dash knob
2) oil it. [Best (hard to do) is carefully bend the kinked end perfectly straight, pull it out, oiling as you push it back through. Worst case, you can replace it. If successful bend the end back like it was.(Make a drawing 1st).] Short-cut is simply oil ends...don't bend carb end.
3) be sure carb choke works ok, oil the shaft ends.
4) install wire cable end in choke lever
5) mount bracket to carb
6) adjust as needed so knob in, choke flap is wide open (up&down)...knob pulled out choke is fully shut, closed off.

 

I went to parts store and bought a choke kit and found there to be a couple things missing so now I'm trying to look for a carb that has everything so that I can find what's missing and replace it to get it working. Cable does not move through casing , going to try to use a seperate cable to see what happens.
I might need to just get a whole new carb and go that route.

Ideas?

Thanks

 

I like to use new carburetors on old cars and trucks, spend your $$ once and forget about it. I got a good deal on a 2GC I had on my '65 C30 Chevy, that first winter it paid itself off as the truck was my DD at the time.

 

^^^ junkbox carbs and junkbox distributors, cause more problems than they are worth.

 

After looking over My carb compared to a couple others I figured out what was missing and got the choke working now (a little fabricating helped)

Thanks for your responses through this. Truck has come a long way and is doing much better.

 

Does anyone know where I can find a 2 bbl carb and how easy or difficult it may be to swap from My carb and if it will actually improve performance.. Instead of a slug climbing hills I'd like to actually be able to keep up with traffic.
I figured I'd start with a carb upgrade first and then look into other possibilities.
Thanks in advance

 

Eh, if the carburetor is close at all to being suitable... meaning stock, it should work well for you. ***uming it is tuned and the rest of it. I haven't re-read all 8 pages of this particular saga but it seems like a cl***ic mistake to "blame the carburetor". Could be wrong. What's on there now?

Remember too depending on the year, and gearing - old trucks weren't really meant to "keep up with traffic", and even if you could - the steering, suspension, and brakes - the handling - isn't going to behave well.

 

Well as far as I can tell it is the stock 1 bbl carb. And the suspension is doing fine thus far. I put on brand new shocks on front and am looking for proper fitting ones for the rear. She rides smooth now. Brakes, steering, suspension are all in good order. My boss and I went over it all and greesed, lived, adjusted, tightened etc, what was needed.
My problem is any incline she bogs down very badly. And people go flying past Me flipping Me the bird or blasting horns.
I know she's an older rig, but she has the power and stamina to keep up on the flat stretches, I just want to get her full potential and show these folks that she's not ready for retirement yet! (So to speak.)
I know that every thing is stock from oem. So I'd just like to figure out My next move to get her moving as best as possible.
Thanks for your response.

 

Also, I'm not sure how to check if the carb is properly tuned.
I have adjusted the throttle to be at the right speed so that the gen keeps My battery charged now.
Other wise, what should I look for on the carb and possibly adjust or clean??

 

You should probably get a Chevrolet service manual for it, if you don't already have one. It will have all of the service procedures and adjustments in it. I have a feeling you are right at the limit of your old beast's speed capabilities, especially if you are running between 65 and 80 mph. Did you ever find out if it is a 36 or a 38? The 36's are 3/4 tons, and came with 4.56 gears, and the 38's are 1 tons, with 5.13's. If you have any junkyards up there with older stuff, you might find a center section from a later 3/4 ton with an automatic, in the late '60's up through 1972, those were equipped with 4.10's. Are you ready to put a small block in it yet? A very simple swap, that requires a V8 or a later 6 cylinder bellhousing through 1967 to fit your 4 speed, and repro front mounts are available. Cool to see you're rolling this thing along.

 

Yes she is definitely a 3800 1 ton dually.
***led and registered. If I can find a truck with 4:10's I'll be happy with that for sure

 

Nope, don't want no small blocks, or automatics.. I like My 4 speed. And I'll stick with My I6. I love these old 6's. Lot of fun.
Just want to maximize her to full potential and keep her as original as possible

 

My uncle told me a good way to remember this is 15 is too young, 36 is too old, and 24 is just right!

 

Thanks, I'm already past that issue. Lol
Now I'm trying to push her for power a d performance. I saw an article about a zenith carb. Thinking of looking for one.

 

Even if the shocks & suspension, brakes etc, are squared away it's not going to handle like a modern rig. It just isn't. A truck like that was designed to haul heavy loads and therefore was geared for it. 40 or 50 mph is going to be wound out pretty good. If it's geared for highway speeds, it will take forever to get there.

They did use smaller carburetors because they perform well at lower speeds just off idle with lots of torque down low, again for pulling away at stops hauling heavy loads. Thing is, an engine is like a big air pump. It has to breathe good. Without opening up the exhaust some first a bigger carburetor may not gain you much on the high end, and it won't run as well as it should everywhere else.

I agree get yourself a shop manual, a tach, timing light, a vacuum gauge, compression gauge, and start tuning it up. Start with a compression test and see what you got. See how it idles, how much manifold vacuum it pulls. Does it smoke at startup, does it burn oil. These tests will tell you the health of the innards and whether it's worth spending time & money tuning up to you.

Check off each component at a time. There are no shortcuts. Carburetors are always tuned last, that's not to say you don't want it tuned correctly now, but everything else affects how it operates in a big way. For example ignition timing. If the timing settings are retarded, the vacuum signal through the carburetor will be weak. They are calibrated for and depend on a certain velocity all through the RPM band through the venturi for it to operate right. A weak ignition spark might not fire off anything but extremely rich fuel mixtures. As you go along (and your mad skillz improve) you might have to go back and revisit some things and go back and forth to tighten up the tolerances of your tune.

 

Thanks. I'm not looking for mad ma**, or speed racer, I just want to make her **** & git out of her own way. I'm not planning on any heavy loads with her, just making her My DD and enjoying.

I'm looking for a shop manual, but so far everybody is ridiculous in how much they want for them. Just because they are vintage, and some are even stained or damaged these idiots are looking for top dollar, and I'm not gonna make someone's bank account grow just for some old paper!

I bide My time and wait to find the right one at a honest price!

 

Now that's cool!
I love working on old rigs and old cars. This newer **** they got out there is just bs junk!

 

I don't know if this is helpful but...
We have a 55 Belair 235 my mother in law bought new, original drivetrain,347k miles. Mom gave to my wife in 1970. Motor was rebuilt about 15 years and 10k miles ago.
Rochester BC (I believe it's called) 1bbl.
Distributor vacuum advance was bad, so I bought one here...

Bob's Chevy Trucks - The Ultimate Source for restoration parts, styling, and ...

Ecklers is a good supply also, and there are many others.

The valve lash, timing, plugs, etc. all set to factory specs.

My guess is this...that car has 3.55:1 rear gears, weighs 3400#, 140 h.p. (again...all guesstimates).
It pulls hills fine. It runs well at 55mph. On an interstate I wouldn't want to go over about 60 (although as stupid teenagers we've had it to 100).
It was designed well for 1955 era.
Now...your truck. My wild guess is it weighs over 5000#. Low gears helps in one sense but if I put our 235 in your truck top speed would be maybe 75-80? That's ***uming new, balanced tires, suspension, etc. It would bog on hills from weight, drag, lack of aerodynamics.
If you drove it new 60 years ago you'd see it's not all that much better than now.





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You don't want the old paper, it will just fall apart at the binding anyway unless it was made well, which it probably wasn't. Glued bindings weren't made to last. With the Ford shop manuals, every year is available, either in reproduction paper reprint copy or on CD. That's what you want. The Ford reprints are about $50. I'd imagine the Chevy stuff would be similar but I haven't looked. Could also look for old MoToRs Repair manuals, the ones published from about 1950 to 1960 or thereabouts.

I like to read different stuff, different manuals, everybody usually has a different angle they are looking at and describe things just a little different. After a while, sometimes, even a dumb*** like me, it starts to almost make sense! Remember knowledge is power, that means horsepower too!