Help! no acceleration/power up hills

[doodah man]

Hello all,

This is my first post on the forum. I just bought a 1972 C-10 about 2 weeks ago with a 350 V8 and auto transmission.

It runs down the hwy really smooth but won't accelerate when I go up a hill from a stop or low speed. When I give it more gas it feels like it's going to stall, so I let up on the gas pedal and let it accelerate slowly until I'm up the hill. The two times this happened the engine was cold. It doesn't sputter on flat roads when I accelerate, but not doesn't have as much power as I'm used to from driving trucks with newer fuel injected V8s. I haven't tested its performance up a hill when the engine is warm.

One last piece of information that might be useful: I bought the truck at an estate auction and it has only rarely been driven in the last 20 years (almost never in the last 4). I've driven it about 150 miles since the purchase.

I'm going to replace the fuel filter and check/change the spark plugs. I will also spray some carburetor cleaner in the carb. Any advice if neither of these fixes the problem?

Thanks in advance for your help. This is my first old truck and my first carburetor-fed engine.