Recently purchased a 1953 Chevy 3100 pickup. All original sheet metal, interior, dash, etc. Only thing non original is the 216 had been swapped out for a 1955 235, and it has been converted to a 12v system. After a few weeks of going through the fuel system, engine, electrical, etc, I got it fired up yesterday. What a joy to hear the engine!
A few quick questions I had for members on here are:
1) I rebuilt the Rochester B carb the truck came with. The carb was in surprisingly great shape but as with most things that sit 20 years, the varnish definitely settled in spots. I do not currently have the choke hooked up (for some reason the cable appears to have been cut), however, my problem is that it doesn't want to start without pouring just a touch of gas in the carb to get it going. Once she fires up, it idles like a dream. Incredibly smooth. I have a brand new gas tank that I haven't installed yet, so instead I ran a new line to a gas can in an effort to only run clean fuel. Do these trucks need somewhat of a gravity feed to the fuel pump itself before it can pump fuel up to the carb? I have read a few articles but I can't seem to find the answer yet. I am a bit confused because if there isn't enough fuel level pressure (gravity) to start the truck, why would it be able to idle just fine?
2) The truck idles really nicely. It also slow revs ok. However, when I tried to rev the truck up (nothing over the top), it seemed to bog down and the wipers turned themselves on for a second then stopped. Does this sound like a vacuum issue, or a fuel starvation issue? I'm leaning towards fuel starvation as I can't get the truck to start on it's own without some gas in the carb. On another note, the truck seems to be running really rich. Small bits of fuel dripping out of the tail pipe and I can definitely smell it running rich. Is this normal for a 65 year old engine, or should I adjust the idle mixture a touch? I screwed the mixture screw in all the way, then backed it out 2 turns as stated in the manual.
I think I am getting really close to having the engine & electrical dialed in before taking on other issues. Any insight the board can provide on this would be helpful! I am not one to start making a million adjustments just because something seems off, I would rather do a bit of research and make finite adjustments and go from there.
