Need help doing a tune up

[FAT TONY]

alright well my truck has been acting up lately, I changed the water pump and gave it an oil change a couple weeks ago and ever since then its been misfiring and not working properly, it's on for a couple minutes then ether it turns off on its own or i turn it off then when I try to turn it on it turns but doesn't turn on it sounds like it isn't getting any fuel to the carburetor so i tried starter fluid a couple times but that didn't work, so im guessing there might be something wrong with the carburetor .........and when i checked the spark plugs and they were kinda black, from what i know it is probably the carburetor that isn't adjusted right but then again I don't know what is the correct way to adjust it so it gets the correct amount of air/fuel ratio, and i took it for a test drive yesterday and it turned off on me a couple times in first gear .. and even when i tried pressing the clutch or putting it in neutral it would still turn off........ at almost every stop when i tried taking off in first gear it would have trouble kinda like if it was in a hire gear but i know it was in first, so if any one can help or has any ideas of what i can do id appreciate it

[1963c-10]

Whens the last time you checked the timing? Also...what engine, year truck, points or hei, carb 1bbl, 2bbl or 4bbl?

[Wrenchbender Ret]

If you are running points in the dist. check the point gap. The rubbing block has probably worn down to a point were they are barely breaking.

[brap999]

To tune your carburetor:

Start the truck and keep it running best you can to let it warm up, make sure the choke is completely open once it has warmed up and remove your air cleaner.

There should be two screws near the bottom of the carburetor if you have a 4 barrel, otherwise there will be one for the 1 and 2 barrel. These are your air/fuel adjustments.

Now adjust the 1 or 2 screws near the base of the carburetor in the direction that makes your RPMs go up. At some point the RPMs will peak and the RPMs will start to go back down. Back it off a bit so you are back at the peak RPMs.

Now there should be another screw towards where the throttle linkage connects to the carburetor. This is your idle adjustment. Adjust this screw to get your RPMS to around 500-700 rpm or so.

When the temperature changes significantly, such as going from summer to winter, you need to retune you carb.

I also agree that you should check your timing, and your cap/rotor on the distributor to make sure its all in good order.

The other simple thing to check is to make sure your fuel filter is clean and not clogged. I've been bitten by this several times. Makes the truck stumble and die while idling and driving when it's too dirty.

[FAT TONY]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Whens the last time you checked the timing? Also...what engine, year truck, points or hei, carb 1bbl, 2bbl or 4bbl?

It is a 1964 chevy c10 230 inline 6 with a 3 speed stick shift standard transmission points i think, and the carb is a Rochester monojet so im guessing 1bbl

[FAT TONY]

Originally Posted by brap999

To tune your carburetor:

Start the truck and keep it running best you can to let it warm up, make sure the choke is completely open once it has warmed up and remove your air cleaner.

There should be two screws near the bottom of the carburetor if you have a 4 barrel, otherwise there will be one for the 1 and 2 barrel. These are your air/fuel adjustments.

Now adjust the 1 or 2 screws near the base of the carburetor in the direction that makes your RPMs go up. At some point the RPMs will peak and the RPMs will start to go back down. Back it off a bit so you are back at the peak RPMs.

Now there should be another screw towards where the throttle linkage connects to the carburetor. This is your idle adjustment. Adjust this screw to get your RPMS to around 500-700 rpm or so.

When the temperature changes significantly, such as going from summer to winter, you need to retune you carb.

I also agree that you should check your timing, and your cap/rotor on the distributor to make sure its all in good order.

The other simple thing to check is to make sure your fuel filter is clean and not clogged. I've been bitten by this several times. Makes the truck stumble and die while idling and driving when it's too dirty.

alright tomorrow ill make sure to adjust the carburetor correctly, the way i did it was i tightened the screw at the bottom all the way down then turned it backwards 3 or four times i saw it on a show once but i didn't know if that is the correct way, by the way any way to exactly know the rpm the engine is running, I don't have an RPM gauge
alright well tomorrow im going to take out the timing gun again and make sure every thing is in order.... is there a difference if the vacuum is on or off, and does the carburetor adjustment affect the timing or the other way around?
i bought it a new air filter today ill probably buy a new fuel filter tomorrow i do remember seeing a couple dark pieces in the filter

and one more thing today I changed the lifters now the valves need adjustment s there any simple way of doing it without the feeler gauge or any techniques that yall might know of.... right now there is a little misfiring going on and some ticking but the ticking might be from one of the rocker arms being lose or might just be one of the lifters that hasn't gotten oil yet