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I have a 69 c60 with 11000 miles (fire truck). It has been sitting for some time but I am trying to resurrect it. It runs but carb will not hold prime and it burns black on the right bank. I contacted Holley for efi upgrade suggestions and they will not advise as it is the governed system. I asked if an hei ignition system could control the overspeed issue but they will not talk to me about it. So I am just thinking about tuning things up for now and keeping it original. No interest in making it a street rod. Any input on the tall deck issues is welcome. Thanks.

Hy bigred, welcome, in my experience Holley's tend to have problems after they have been let sit for a while, leaks were quite common. It sounds like it is time for a carburetor cleaning and rebuild and a general tuneup wouldn't hurt anything either, good luck with your truck.

Welcome to the Stovebolt!

Keeping the rev limiter/governor is a good thing on big trucks, it keeps you from over revving the engine when pulling away from the stop sign in the lower gears. The 427 was a 250 HP motor with about 450 lb ft of torque if I remember right...should run great, but won't be a speed demon...55 mph max.

Mike B

I also have a 69 C60. One of the first things I did was toss the old governed Holley. It was leaking and spraying fuel all over the top of my motor, I wasn't going to waste my time rebuilding it. My truck had already been upgraded to an HEI. Max speed was 59 with the Holley in place. I have 6:50 rear gears for now. After upgrading I can easily spin the motor to 4k or more rpm. I have read that 4500 is the absolute maximum for a tall deck motor. I'm not very comfortable going over 4k since I don't have a lot of seat time with her since I freshened the motor. I can rev it to the moon the way it is and I don't like that. She is plenty noisy enough that I know when I'm high in the rpms. I never use 1st gear for taking off, I have no need for it. One option I've looked into is a rev limiter. There are a lot of options out there. I'll add that if you do get an HEI distributor get a standard length distributor for just about any BBC, that will save you some money. You'll need to look at the distributor drive gear very closely!! I had to modify my new distributor and reuse my original drive gear. If your truck is like mine and you don't pay close attention you won't have any oil pressure and will be doing good to make it 2 miles. If you have any other questions about that I have pictures and can send them to you if needed. Good luck.

I think you could keep your existing distributor and add an MSD cpacitive discharge unit. I've been running one for near 20 years now with never a hickup. You can get a version with a rev limiter. I use the original points as a trigger. Occasionally I have to clean the points with a file as the MSD doesn't draw enough current through the points to keep them clean. I also have to do that if the truck sits over the winter. Same deal with the magneto points on my old Matchless motorcycle.

Rapid engine acceleration in lower gears is also hard on accessories driven off the engine like air compressors, water pumps, and so forth. Same with rapid deceleration. On big diesels we were repeatedly told not to shift with the jake on to make the next gear as it would tear up the accessory drive and accessories. Very expensive on a big Cummins. Not cheap on a 427 either. On some trucks the shop put the jake switch on the floor next to the clutch so you couldn't do that. Of course some guys would shift without the clutch and do it anyway but never within earshot of the yard.

I have a GMC 630 that had 6.5 gears, found a 4.13 two speed from an ATHS member in Duluth, much better now. Look around, you might find one.

Ed

Thank you all for input! I may just tune everything up and keep original. I have a 7:20 gear which is way too low for what I will need and it looks like the only spicer upgrade is 5.13 which I may be able to live with. Again great talking with everyone and thanks