Truck not running properly

[72jenny]

I have been working on trying to get my truck running but have ran into some trouble. It has a 350 engine that is .40 over and I believe it has a mild cam. Edelbrock 1406 carb and edelbrock intake manifold. The problem I am having is when I start my truck it runs fine. However, once I am in gear I have trouble. I can usually drive a little ways but then when I get off the gas it will stall. Not sure whether it is the carb adjustments or timing that is off. After adjusting the carb some nothing has seemed to help which makes me think the timing is off. Anyone know where I should be setting my total timing at? Thanks!

[72jenny]

Has a 3 speed transmission in it btw...

[Fldawg]

Sounds like your floats in the carb need to be adjusted, have you checked that, i would check that before i mess with the timing

[In The Ten Ring]

Sounds like how my 1972 3 speed was doing. It had sat for 10 years with a full tank of gas. It would stall at red lights and quit although it never did that in the 20 years before.

It has sat 7 years since then (again with gas) so this past summer I had the gas tank cleaned and renewed inside (a professional process) and had the carb rebuilt. The mechanic said he'd "never seen so much rust fall out of a bowl before." Next summer I'm replacing the whole fuel line before putting it all back together.

So....you may have rust in your lines.

[72jenny]

Thanks for the advice. Actually had a problem with a rusted gas tank earlier. Ended up replacing the tank and rebuilding the carb. So the floats were adjusted then and I believe them to be accurate. I'm thinking a possible timing issue now. Just got done messing with the timing and was able to get it to run a little better. Still not quit right. Just not sure where the timing should be set at.

[bigmac73]

make sure your choke is opening

[In The Ten Ring]

72Jenny,

Wow, see! You are way ahead of me on fixing up your truck! LOL. I have no idea about timing...haven't done that yet to anything.

I hope you find the trouble.

[geezer#99]

It's not timing (though more helps), it's not your choke and it's not your float.
It's cold air. The cold vapourized fuel drops back to a liquid as it contacts the cold intake runners. Once the intake is fully warm it runs like normal.
The cure! Heat the incoming air or make the crossover under the intake operative again.
Or just start it for a couple minutes, shut it off to heat soak the intake (heat in the motor rises) for 5 minutes then you should be good.

[72jenny]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

72Jenny,

Wow, see! You are way ahead of me on fixing up your truck! LOL. I have no idea about timing...haven't done that yet to anything.

I hope you find the trouble.

Yeah, fixing the gas tank and getting clean fuel was a long process that I am glad I am past haha.

Originally Posted by geezer#99

It's not timing (though more helps), it's not your choke and it's not your float.
It's cold air. The cold vapourized fuel drops back to a liquid as it contacts the cold intake runners. Once the intake is fully warm it runs like normal.
The cure! Heat the incoming air or make the crossover under the intake operative again.
Or just start it for a couple minutes, shut it off to heat soak the intake (heat in the motor rises) for 5 minutes then you should be good.

Interesting. This is by far the oldest vehicle I have worked on. It was a small restoration project to take an old C10 and get it running and partially fixed up for experience in future resto projects. Learning about all the little quirks and knowledge like this is what I don't know and what I am interested to learn. I will definitely let my truck warm up a bit before I drive her next time. I have just got her running recently so haven't run her any further than around the block. Hope that is the issue!

[geezer#99]

Just warming it longer won't always help. You need the shut it down, let it heat soak to help.
Not always a guarentee it won't try to quit again for the first mile, so just watch for it by slipping into neutral at the first stop light to make sure it wants to idle.

[In The Ten Ring]

My dad bought my '72 new and he had trouble getting it started and warmed up in the mornings (we've always lived in WV) so be put a manual choke on it and sure enough, if you pull the choke it'll start right up! *Now the defrost won't work for some time but you can always stick your head out the window. LOL

[70c10stepside]

Just idle it up a hair?? lol If that don't do it throw on new fuel filters. I would do that anyways, i change mine every so often. May could also need a tune up? Think your carb is out of whack or timing? pull a plug and see if your leaning out. itll tell you lol