69' GMC - slight issue today

[silverado383]

i have a quick question for the experts here

so about an hour ago i left work to go grab lunch, i jumped in the truck and she fired up fine. went to back out of my parking space and all of a sudden it was acting as thow it wasnt getting fuel and it died. it would crank over fine but wouldnt fire, when i would fire it wouldnt idle unless i had my foot on the gas and even then i couldnt get it ubove 500 RPM. sat there and cranked on it for a while then all of a sudden she came to life and ran and idled fine.

i thought it might be the fuel filter but i just put a new one in. the truck has a new GM crate motor (350ci). it has the original points, not sure why they didnt convert it over but i dont think it was an electrical issue.

what would cause it to do this so i can keep it from happening again?
also, how hard is it to switch it over from points to electronic ignition


thanks in advance

here is the truck

[Shyguy]

A float sticking could be one of the reasons.

[smn69]

Switching from points to HEI is not to difficult. 2 ways to do it:
Use your original distributor and install a electronic module it place of the points or
Get and HEI distributor and just swap it in place of the old one.
The other change is to run a power wire to the new unit (whichever you choose) that has a 12 volt power supply. The original power supply has a resistor that lowers the voltage to about 9 volts.
It all depends on the look you want to go with and it can be done for well under $100, and it is worth it!

[silverado383]

do you think its better to just get a new distributer and plop that in? or does it matter? i'm sure you get the same results either way but i would lean towards the easiest solution.

and why is switching it over better? does it deliever a hotter spark and is it more reliable? i have never had to deal with points before so i applogized if i'm asking some dumb questions

[smn69]

Originally Posted by silverado383

do you think its better to just get a new distributer and plop that in? or does it matter? i'm sure you get the same results either way but i would lean towards the easiest solution.

and why is switching it over better? does it deliever a hotter spark and is it more reliable? i have never had to deal with points before so i applogized if i'm asking some dumb questions

If the old distributor is still in good condition it doesn't really matter, a lot of people just like the original look.

The second answers are yes and yes.

Points will just wear and burn and need to be replaced and adjusted at regular intervals, as long as the electronic module is good, there are no problems (they do go bad once in a while though).

[PanelDeland]

It took me an hour to change to HEI.I did plugs and wires also.There are some good write-ups in the FAQ's section.It actually took me longer to gather parets than to do the swap.

[swamp rat]

A possibility is maybe the choke was on and died from being too rich, then when you started it up you had to open it up to clear all the fuel out?

Did you smell any gas while turning it over?

I doute it was the distributor if it was running fine when you parked it.