low mileage original 350/4BBL.. rebuild or replace?

[gintaras]

Hello! I have a low mileage '72 C-10, Highlander

This truck was brought back from Houston TX where it lived it's life hauling the family camper on camping trips. This truck has only 68k miles on it, and there is no rust other than a small dime size on the passenger door jamb.

Now, as we all know, in 1972 these motors had very low compression and 170 measly horsepowers..

I have already rebuild the Rochester, but it is still a little unreliable, starts great, but is hard to start after it is warmed up. I also noticed a lot of carbon buildup in the manifold when I removed the carb for a rebuild.

So.. I think I already know the answer to my question, but I would like to get some input from those of you who know best. My dream would be to put in a late model LSx, but right now I am trying to be a bit frugal, and I think that I would rather rebuild the original 350, freshen it up, and pull some power out of it with a cam, heads, and carb/intake combo.

I loojk forward to your opinions.. oh, another reason I am leaning towards freshening up the motor is because of the low mileage and I would like to keep it "numbers matching" like the thread poll we have going here.

THanks!

[Wrenchbender Ret]

Fantastic truck. If you can do your own work I like to just pull a low mileage engine like that out & freshen it up. The walls & crank should be fine. Get a minor engine kit & a slightly warm cam. I'd use the Q-jet carb. & get a performer manifold or equivalant. Put dual exhaust on with the original ramhorn manifolds. Real long glasspacks sound great on those trucks with out much noise. If you dont want to rebuild it yourself the basic Goodwrench crate engine is a great package. That is a treasure of a truck, please dont butcher it.

[cdowns]

i'd run a couple of tanks of gas thru the motor with a cleaner like seafoam first then do a complete tune up on it //change out the tranny and rear fluids with a quality synthetic//what rear gear does it have?overdrive or higher gears help alot with gas mileage

[gintaras]

Hey thanks for the replies. I can do the work myself no problem, and if i need to hot tank it or clean up the block, there is a good machine shop not far from me. Like I said, I would like to pull a little more power out of the original engine, so I am thinking heads are likely a must, but I don't know if the stock manifolds will bolt to the different heads or not.

I do not know what the rear is, but if I had to guess I would say 3.42 or even lower.. it does not have posi I know that..

does this sticker help with identifying the rear end?

[68gmsee]

This opinion is from an old guy that's seen many of these old trucks buy I've never seen one as nice as this one from our area on the coast.

I'd keep it as original as possible. Resale value on an original truck like this one is a lot higher since you will never find another one in this condition.

If I was looking to build for horsepower, I believe I'd try to find another one that's not in such nice shape. Maybe a 67 or 68 shortbed. Remember, these old trucks were made for work and not for speed.

You didn't say how many miles on the truck, but I'd start with what's been recommended. Try some Chevron fuel additives to get the moisture out and check all your filters for gunk buildup.

[Joesjunk]

You truck should have a 3:07 gear. That is a very nice truck you have. I would keep it original. If you rebuild your motor, just do your performance upgrades on the internals and detail it to stock on the outside.

[OARNGESI]

That highlander is nice

[spinning wheels]

That is one clean looking truck. Not too many in that shape.

If you want to increase hp, I would change over to vortec heads and a Weiand or Edelbrock manifold.
But keep your original stuff should you want to restore.

Upgrade the ignition to HEI. Most likely, I would change the carb. They are outdated from the factory compared to what is available today. JET sells an updated Q Jet carb, or install a Holley Avenger series. That is if you are looking for hi-performance. For daily driver, you carb or an Edelbrock carb will work fine.
With the milage your motor has, I don't think it would need a rebuild. Then again, if the PO didn't keep it up, it might. By looking at the photos, it looks like the PO took good care of the truck.

That would be the frugal updates. I have seen some old muscle cars with new Vette engines and six speed trannys. They make great drivable hot rods, but a lot of custom fabrication is involved.

Good luck with your project

[mtdave2]

nice truck! i was in the same boat, 55k miles original motor not much power. mine leaked oil like crazy. i ended up putting vortec heads on it and changing all the gaskets, new cam, timing gear.......lots of little stuff. runs great now.

might have been a good idea to do something with the pistons, but ill get a few more miles then rebuild the bottom.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ighlight=heads

[gintaras]

thanks for all the replies.. I think winter might finally be over up here in the midwest, so I can finally start cleaning her up and shopping for heads and such.