1968 C10 build I-6 4spd

[slomotion]

Just a quick assessment here, but I think you're in pretty good shape. I have a couple of questions, then I'll explain what I think I'd do....How long did the truck sit before you bought it? How much have you driven the truck? If you haven't driven it, how long would you guess the engine has run since you've owned it? Did you do a vacuum test? Readings? Did the needle fluctuate?
156324 is your firing order, and the rotor under the dist. cap turns clockwise. #1 and #5 plugs are the darkest, and coincidently cylinders #1 and #5 are the lowest valued compression readings. BTW, the rest of the compression numbers are great, and the rest of the plugs look normal. Ideally, you want a dark tan dusty look to the plugs, so there's no problems there.
I'll wait on your answers, but I'm guessing the engine sat for a while before you got it.......

[sambudo]

Originally Posted by slomotion

Just a quick assessment here, but I think you're in pretty good shape. I have a couple of questions, then I'll explain what I think I'd do....How long did the truck sit before you bought it? How much have you driven the truck? If you haven't driven it, how long would you guess the engine has run since you've owned it? Did you do a vacuum test? Readings? Did the needle fluctuate?
156324 is your firing order, and the rotor under the dist. cap turns clockwise. #1 and #5 plugs are the darkest, and coincidently cylinders #1 and #5 are the lowest valued compression readings. BTW, the rest of the compression numbers are great, and the rest of the plugs look normal. Ideally, you want a dark tan dusty look to the plugs, so there's no problems there.
I'll wait on your answers, but I'm guessing the engine sat for a while before you got it.......

1. Not quite sure how long the truck sat before I purchased it probably a long time.
2. I haven't driven it much at all, since I purchased the truck.
3. My guess is the engine has run 4-5 hours maybe.
4. no vacuum test.

Thanks Slomotion

[slomotion]

OK Sam, here's my guess. When the truck was parked some moisture found it's way into the cylinders of #1 and #5. Not a lot, just ambient humidity, but enough to put a little rust on the valves and seats of those cylinders which has allowed a slight bit of compression to slip by. You'll notice that those cylinders are right next to each other in the firing order. I think what I'd do is check the distributor cap especially around #'s 1&5, and see if there's any corrosion around those contacts. If you can, (and you will eventually anyway,) get a new cap, rotor, and set of spark plug wires. Your plugs didn't look bad, and will probably clean up pretty well for now, unless you can spring for them at the same time although their color was good which is an indication that everything else in the system was working well.
Put it all back together and drive it for a few weeks then take another compression test. I suspect the valves will start to seat better, and the compression will come up in those two cylinders. At this point I don't think I'd open up an otherwise good running engine.
If you put it back together and do a vacuum test, I think what you'll see is a relatively steady needle with just a flicker on a regular basis, which will be the valves in 1 and 5 leaking slightly.
Bottom line, I'd run it for a while before I did anything major.

[sambudo]

Originally Posted by slomotion

OK Sam, here's my guess. When the truck was parked some moisture found it's way into the cylinders of #1 and #5. Not a lot, just ambient humidity, but enough to put a little rust on the valves and seats of those cylinders which has allowed a slight bit of compression to slip by. You'll notice that those cylinders are right next to each other in the firing order. I think what I'd do is check the distributor cap especially around #'s 1&5, and see if there's any corrosion around those contacts. If you can, (and you will eventually anyway,) get a new cap, rotor, and set of spark plug wires. Your plugs didn't look bad, and will probably clean up pretty well for now, unless you can spring for them at the same time although their color was good which is an indication that everything else in the system was working well.
Put it all back together and drive it for a few weeks then take another compression test. I suspect the valves will start to seat better, and the compression will come up in those two cylinders. At this point I don't think I'd open up an otherwise good running engine.
If you put it back together and do a vacuum test, I think what you'll see is a relatively steady needle with just a flicker on a regular basis, which will be the valves in 1 and 5 leaking slightly.
Bottom line, I'd run it for a while before I did anything major.

thanks for the gr8 info, I'll do this when i get home. and give you an up date shortly.

[sambudo]

Slomotion could i squirt oil in the spark plub hole to help lubricate it?

[slomotion]

Sure, but not too much. What I've done in the past with an engine that had set for a while but would run, was to put some Marvel Mystery Oil (no joke, that's what it's called. It comes in a red can with black lettering. That's not the only thing you could use, but it works pretty well,) into a regular oil squirt can. With the engine warm and idling a little higher than normal, around 800 with the air cleaner off, just squirt a little oil right down the carb. The engine will slow down a little, stumble, and begin to smoke out the tail pipe. When the engine recovers and smooths out, add some more oil, but not enough to stall it. Do this for ten-fifteen minutes. When you get done, just shut it down and let it sit. It'll take a little while for the oil to completely burn out of the system, so don't be surprised when you next start it and it begins to smoke blue, that'll go away after a while.
Keep us posted.........

[sambudo]

would 250 6-cyl out of a 74 Nova power steering bracket fit my 1968 250 6-cyl engine?

I found one local and thinking about buying it?

[sambudo]

Attachment 1208746

Originally Posted by sambudo

would 250 6-cyl out of a 74 nova power steering bracket fit my 1968 250 6-cyl engine?

I found one local and thinking about buying it?

[sambudo]

Originally Posted by sambudo

Attachment 1208746
Attachment 1208747

[sambudo]

I dont want to buy the whole enging only the brackets etc.. what do you think? Thank you

[sambudo]

Has anyone done this conversion? Is it a straight bolt on convert? Take off old box and replace with p/s gear box? Do I have to modify anything? Has anyone done a thread on how to do this?

I'm accumulating all needed parts to switch over. Just wondering how hard it is to do it, if theres anything I need to do. Thanks