When I purchased this C10 the interior needed to be renewed and the paint was faded but there were no major problems with the drivetrain and this suited my needs just fine being that I wanted to take care of the cosmetic aspects of the truck first and do the mechanical last.

Knowing beforehand that the process of customizing a C10 according to my vision would take some time, I wanted to be able to drive the truck between the various build stages that it would go through, so it was important to me to find a C10 that met my needs and this 1971 fit the bill perfectly.

For the full story on how I acquired this truck click here.

350 c.i.d. Engine

High Performance Parts Detailed Information

The plan was to invest money in performance upgrades that could be transferred either to another engine or that could be re-installed after a rebuild of the existing engine when the time came. In other words, I had no plans to switch from a small block to a big block engine.

Some of the oil leakage mentioned above was coming from timing cover seal and oil pan gasket, so while I had the OEM pulley system off, it made sense to go in a little deeper and repair these leaks at the same time.

For example , since I was going to have to remove the timing cover to replace the leaking crankshaft oil seal and timing cover gasket, and, removal of the timing cover requires "breaking" the front oil pan front seal, ( the rear main seal was leaking and the pan gasket had excessive seepage ) and I was going to remove the oil pan in any event to correct the oil leaks there ; it was the perfect time to go in and replace other parts as well.

The key to doing multiple task repairs is performing a thorough inspection and listing all the items in need of attention. Once that is done, research on the parts and cost of those parts can be done accurately.

Another aspect is timeframe, i.e., how much time will it require to actually do the repair, if the vehicle is your daily driver and you plan for a weekend repair, all your ducks need to be in a row, if not, you might be taking a taxi to work on Monday morning. However, since the C10 was not a daily driver for me, I did not have to concern myself with this aspect too much, the C10 has its own space in the garage and it could remain there for as long as it took me to accomplish what I want to accomplish. Regardless, I still had to do some time scheduling as I do not like leaving internals of an engine exposed to the environment for too long a period. For example, even though I keep my garage fairly clean, if I'm doing an intake manifold change, I like to accomplish the task within a 48 hour period.

Budget however is a concern, as when doing multiple task repairs, it is important to have all the parts bought and paid for and be at hand. This sometimes means waiting, and chomping at the bit, till the right amount of funds have collected.

So what follows here is list and short explanation of parts replaced as I was going into the engine to correct the oil leaks.

Knowing that I was going to replace the OEM Quadrajet carburetor on the C10, I figured it would be a good idea to replace the OEM fuel pump with a unit that had a little more push to it and I'm not speaking about pressure but rather volume.

This Carter pump fit the bill perfectly having a higher flow rate than the OEM pump while its pressure output is just slightly above in the OEM range.

The common mistake in fuel pump selection for street machines is thinking that higher PSI is the way to go, where the reality is that high PSI fuel pumps for street driven machines will, more often than not, blow out the needle and seat and damage the float — volume, not pressure, is the key to fuel supply in a street machine.

However, this Milodon circle track oil pan is a perfect fit for this type of application.

As far as transferring the oil pan to the 383 c.i.d. block, the current Dzus-fastened, full-length windage tray in the oil pan will have to be removed and the Milodon stud-mounted windage tray for the 383 c.i.d.mentioned in the new parts section ( previous page ) of this web site would have to be installed on the stroker engine block.

However, since I'm also listing transferable parts from one engine to another, I thought it appropriate to include the flexplate replacement here.

There was nothing wrong with the OEM flexplate per se, but in this particular instance I removed the automatic transmission to replace the leaking front pump seal and while I had the transmission out I decided to replace the stock flexplate with a more heavy duty one as well.

NOTE : The automatic transmission did come out a second time at a later date ( see page THREE in the mechanical section ) for its high performance upgrade overhaul.

The Flex-a-lite wide blade flex fans build horsepower by flattening out at high RPM to reduce drag and the lightweight design helps prolong a water pump's lifespan.

It is comforting to know that the cooling system is up to the task of maintaining proper operating temperature at highway speed or idle conditions in traffic where the ambient temperature is in the triple digits..

I use the 14 inch electric fan at engine off at fuel stops while in desert areas to maintain heat dispersion from the radiator.

Additionally, I fabricated a larger battery tray which accommodates a GROUP 27 style battery and it is fitted in the OEM battery location.

Lets say, when all is said and done with the 383 c.i.d. stroker high performance engine that its redline is 6000 RPM, if so, it will need a carburetor that produces 565 CFM.

So it seems that this 600 CFM Holley currently installed on the 350 c.i.d. engine will do the job for the 383 c.i.d. stroker engine as well..

Let's take a closer look now at the fuel induction ( and its associated systems ) currently installed on the 1971 C10's 350 c.i.d. engine.

The use of an open spacer on a dual plane manifold increases top end power by making it work like a single plane manifold. The reason being is that the two halves of the dual plane manifold are now drawing their air / fuel mixture from a common source. In effect, the two halves are no longer isolated from each other, and the effect is at its strongest at WOT during transmission kickdown.

Additionally the spacer helps to insulate the carburetor from engine heat and provides more clearance for the linkage.

The function of the solenoid in this application is curb idle adjustment.

The curb idle set-screw on the Holley carburetor is set for approximately 500 RPM and the solenoid is set at approximately 800 RPM. The solenoid is energized at key-on and raises the throttle lever to the specified setting.

Upon vehicle start-up the solenoid energized and raises the throttle lever to 800 RPM. When the key is ignition key is turned to the off position the the voltage to the solenoid is cut off and the throttle linkage falls to the curb idle screw.

NOTE : On cold start the choke cam automatically brings the engine RPM up to approximately 1500 RPM and after the choke has fully opened, depressing the accelerator pedal will drop the choke cam and the throttle lever will fall to the head of the solenoid, i.e., engine RPM will fall from 1500 to 800 RPM after warm-up.

This system of idle control ensures that the engine will not experience a run-on ( dieseling ) condition.

The PCV system serves the purpose of exhausting crankcase pressure in the engine block created as result of by blow-by gases in the combustion process. Without an adequate means of relief from this pressure the engine gaskets would constantly leak.

I created a separate " how-to " web page on this procedure that details this task for others who would like to have some insight before attempting this job themselves. Click HERE to access that page.

This concludes the 350 c.i.d. High Performance Parts Detailed Information section.

The next section will detail information of the 383 c.i.d. stroker engine build and installation into the 1971 Chevrolet C10 pickup.