Need Chevy help... C-60

A friend bought this late 80s C-60 as-is not running, Im trying to get it going for him. My two questions are, do we need this pressure regulator for a quadrajet which is fed with a mechanical pump? Someone went to a lot of trouble to do this, I have never seen a Q-jet set up this way. I expect it originally had a Holley governor carb, since the distributor is still in it. Second, the vacuum line to the right , coming from the brake booster, has a tee with a line going down to a PCV valve in the valve cover. Will it build boost this way? The booster also has hydraulic assist powered by the steering pump. Also, can someone ID this motor for us? Any input appreciated. Thanks, Fritz

It's been 45+ years since I last messed with a C60. However the engine looks like a 366 or a 427.

With the stock mechanical fuel pump - or a properly sized electric pump - the Qjet does not need a pressure regulator.

Not certain but it appears the brake booster vacuum hoses are improperly connected. The booster hose should terminate in a nipple screwed directly into the intake manifold. And the PCV should hose should terminate in a nipple in the carburetor throttle body. But again it's been a LONG time since I fooled with one of these...I could be wrong(!)

I would guess that is a 366, because they were mstly standard issue. The hydraulic booster is a standard thing, I have a 2000 GMC with a Cat in it with hydraboost brakes. Vacum booster would have to tie into the intake to obtain vacuum.

I'm in north central Ohio. I got 1 of those trucks with a 366 in it. Engine was still running but had a bad knock. All the stuff is still there and hooked up. Mine may be a C-50 ? as it had disk brakes.
Having that vacuum brake booster and also a hydro - vac booster seems strange as I thought you had 1 or the other but not both ?
Also looks like a Chrysler ballast resistor in the ignition ? Something is weird there too ? if late 80's it should have the large distributer with electronic ignition. That looks like an older points set up ? The whole engine may of been transplanted into there.
You could likely eliminate everything but the basics until you get it running.

I think your distributor cap was last used by GM in 1976. First used in 56 By GM. 57 Chevy's had that style cap.

The distributor cap does not look like the GM HEI igntion that had a coil mounted in the center of the distributor cap.

The hose with the bolt plugged into it coming from the front of the carb is your PCV hose, at least that's the way it is with Q Jets in pickups. As said above point distributors went the way of the dodo bird by the mid 70's. Give us a picture of the truck to see what you are dealing with.

Is there a machined pad on the deck of the block, at the front of the passenger side head/valve cover? Should have your VIN stamped there. Definitely a BBC (Big Block Chevy) but could be any of them. Look for the VIN and we'll be able to translate it for you. steve

I also believe 366. But 427 is sure a possibility. Engine ID# info would be definitive. Make sure it has Oil, tidy up loose disconnected lines. The PCV and Booster are supposed to be on different sources, but will work that way with a good PCV and fail with a stuck open PCV. Make sure the points are working and connected to power. Start it. Jim

Is there a machined pad on the deck of the block, at the front of the passenger side head/valve cover? Should have your VIN stamped there. Definitely a BBC (Big Block Chevy) but could be any of them. Look for the VIN and we'll be able to translate it for you.

Put a pressure gauge on the fuel line before the regulator. Anything below about 7 psi, you could get rid of the regulator. Somebody may have stuck a high-pressure pump in the gas tank, and that's why the regulator. Anything over about 7 psi will overpower your needle and seat in the carb and flooding will be a problem. steve

I think is likely a 1975 366 cu.

(quoted from post at 15:02:38 01/12/22) A friend bought this late 80s C-60 as-is not running, Im trying to get it going for him. My two questions are, do we need this pressure regulator for a quadrajet which is fed with a mechanical pump? Someone went to a lot of trouble to do this, I have never seen a Q-jet set up this way. I expect it originally had a Holley governor carb, since the distributor is still in it. Second, the vacuum line to the right , coming from the brake booster, has a tee with a line going down to a PCV valve in the valve cover. Will it build boost this way? The booster also has hydraulic assist powered by the steering pump. Also, can someone ID this motor for us? Any input appreciated. Thanks, Fritz

<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto113815.jpg>

Click to expand...

I see a lot of things that will need attention to "get it going", but begin with the fuel line stuffed into the carb fuel inlet, where there needs to be a fitting that holds a fuel filter, then the fuel line attaches to that.
And toss the regulator that should not be there. What a mess.

The water pump makes me think it's a 366 or 427 truck big block. Truck had about 1/4 inch taller block deck, different heads, different intake, other little differences that pop up when unexpected. Look on the sides of the block, behind the motor mount boss, see if it says PASS or TRUCK cast in raised letters. Truck will be the high block deck.

They had a reputation for dropping valves. I would get some oil in the cylinders, see if it will turn over, run a compression test before worrying about anything else.

If it does look like it will run, best pull the valve covers and rocker arms, look at the ends of the valves and ends of the rockers. They will pit and wear. That's what breaks off the valves.

The carb looks like a mess, it will most likely need a kit and a new float. Looks like the fuel filter nut is missing, threads in the carb body might be stripped or cross threaded. Trash the regulator. If it has an electric pump, get rid of that too, put a stock mechanical pump back on. Probably will need new fuel hoses at the pump, tank, and anywhere else if there is a dual tank set up. Good chance the tanks have nasty old gas or worse.

It's definitely a hybrid of parts. Probably not the right distributor, for sure not the right carb.

The vacuum lines will work as is, but not exactly correct.

Pray for it, it's gonna need all the help you can get it!

Thanks for all the comments, lots of stuff to chew on here. I was trying to post some pictures to answer some questions, but I cant get the pictures to appear on the preview. Ill try again when I get home, my phone always acts funny in this town.
However I did discover it is actually a C70 but still dont know the year, all the stickers have been painted over.

The carb,the distributor,and the color are wrong for a truck. It is a big block but it could be a 366,427 truck or 396,402,427,454 car/pick up motor. Notheing wrong with any of them, but the brakes must be right. I am guessing there was not enough room for the factory HEI so it has points, and the resistor is because HEI uses 12V to the distributor,points need less. Oh, the truck color was orange. We kept a 366 and a 427 in stock in 74/75. The gas motors were more popular that the diesels then. The dump truckers could blow one up in the morning and have it back on the road by midnight.

late 80's ?? i have never saw a quad carb on any 366 or 427. they use holley carbs. plus that engine still has the points ignition, not electronic like it should have. some backyard mechanic sure has something else going on there. plus c60 should be 366. you sure its late 80's and not late 70's???

I am a fairly competent Chevy user/ mechanic. That came into my view, I would simply say 'NO'.

Ok , now...






I got four bars on my phone now. I drained the turpentine out of the tank and dumped in ten gallons of fresh gas. I put the fuel piping back the way it was just for test purposes. It started and idled on 7 cylinders ( plug wire off) . Had to shut it down to fix a leak , so I didnt see the choke open, I dont see how it can with no electric or other heat going to the thermostat. But now it wont start , broken start wire at the solenoid, and it was too hot to mess around with the starter so Im done for now. I didnt understand the ballast resistor either, but was wired to the starter so I just left it. Also would like to delete the fuel regulator when rearranging the fuel lines. The inverted flare is leaking at the fuel filter so it needs to be redone anyway.

Regarding the color, wasnt that the color of GMs Target motors? ( the factory rebuilds)

Here are some comments on what you appear to have going, I agree it looks like an earlier engine has been swapped in and a fair amount of cobbling is present. However, with a little tweaking I think it can be made to work. It looks to be a proper high deck truck motor as Steve has mentioned. It has a truck style distributor ..note vent cap.. that worked together with the original Holley carb to provide a top speed governor. One thing that needs investigated is the carb mounting. I am certain that a spread bore carb pattern ..small and big bore bolt pattern was never offered for a tall deck truck manifold. So the carb has to be mounted by an adapter, thus you see nuts on studs for the front pair of bolts. My question is if the adapter is not thick enough the large rear throttle plates may hit the manifold and not allow them to open fully. To check this the choke has to be held open so the secondary lock out is off and the throttle fully opened while looking down the back carb bores. For the choke you will have to get an electric choke as shown in the link. As Scott has pointed out the PCV hose is coming off the front of the carb and is plugged and laying over the right valve cover. However with that carb adapter I would start it and check that it pulls a good vacuum to that port before connecting it there. The ballast resistor is correct due to it originally having HEI that ran a full 12 volts as mentioned by 504. The wire to the starter should run from the coil side of the resistor to the ..I.. terminal on the solenoid to provide full voltage for a hotter spark during cranking. The brake system is likely original with both the vacuum booster and hydraboost system. I am not sure if it applies to this truck but in some cases a completely separate spring applied hydraulically released park brake system was used on some of these models particularly if they were specd for use as bucket or boom trucks.
Electric choke example

Sure would make a good wagon and forget the rest of the non engine nonsense.

To add an ideal way to connect an electric choke is to run switched ignition power through an oil pressure switch, see link. This way if the ignition is turned on for some amount of time prior to start the thermal electric choke will not heat up and open until the engine is started and oil pressure closes the switch to send power to it.
Oil pressure switch

probably a 366, could also be a 396 or 427. Usually a regulator is coupled with an axillary fuel pump. If you are sure it only uses the factory mechanical pump I do not think you need the regulator. If the PVC valve is working correctly that is the way they were connected. I would plug it until you get it started. Most I saw had the Holley with the governor. I would rebuild that carb before proceeding.

Good advice provided by used red MN, particularly that regarding the spread bore Rochester being possibly mounted on a square bore intake & the resulting interference to the secondary throttle plates.

Providing the base engine is in acceptable condition, cleaning up the wiring, vacuum lines, & fuel system along with some tune - up related maintenance could result in a perfectly usable truck.

A note to those commenting on the engine model, the pictures show a tall deck configuration as evidenced by the intake manifold / thermostat housing & water pump. That rules out the 396, 402, 427(car), or 454 engines.

Some good info. on the 366 & 427 tall deck engines: https://www.tradecraftspecialties.com/bbckb