Chevrolet C8

[Richard Nixon]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Brake system, it it has original or NOS brake cylinders that have not been sleeved you might consider having them sleeved once you find the source of the problem. With owning 3 CMPs I have found that sleeving is a once and done approach to this problem. Unsleeved cylinders are good for 4-5 years before the water in the brake fluid will pit them. Some of my trucks are now coming up on 30 years without the cylinders having to be touched other than to replace the rubber parts every 10 years.

Water pump leak- try real hard to id the location of the leak is it coming from the drain hole in the housing? Or is it leaking around the hose connection point. Pat 12s it is hard to get your head in there to actually see but try with a mirror. Also it may be just a gasket.

Carb - Before you do anything to the carb how old is the gas. The modern gas in the US goes off in 3-4 months and runs like garbage. Have learned to hold off on trying to find power related problems until I dump new gas in the tank and run the engine long enough that I know it is getting fresh fuel to the Carb. Also check your air filter, Pattern 12s have a peculiar problem the placement of the airfilter can let water drip into the oil bath raising the level of the fluid in the filter so that engine has trouble breathing.

Even with rubber gasket at the top edge of the hood mine decided to add an inch of water to the filter. Truck would start but not pull well, like driving with the choke pulled out. This was from one rain storm, over night at a Club Event.

Another thought on the carb would be to put a vacuum gauge on and see what sort of vacuum it is pulling.

Many thanks for your reply, I'm new to Chevrolets so will take all the advice I can get!

I think sleeving the brakes is the way to go, if they havent been done already. I'll need to find someone to do it. I need to get into the drum and have a look.

The water leak is very hard to see where its coming from. I managed to nip up a couple of bolts, it seemed to make it worse!! Might have just disturbed something, however after running it up for a bit the leak has stopped. I noticed in the manual I have, that there is a drain hole. Good advice about using a mirror! I have a used water pump that needs refurbishing, I may got down that route. But as you say, look for the source (probably easier to find the source of the Nile!!)

The carb issue was identified by the previous owner - he 'borrowed' a carb off a friends truck, and he said it ran fine. Hence the thinking it is carb related. I have a spare later Rochester carb, I'll look to clean that up and refurbish it, put that on and see if it makes a difference. I have a refurb kit for the Carter W-1 thats on the Chev at the moment and get that done. The only other thing I noticed was a couple of big dents in the exhaust, on the down pipe, quite big creases. That will certainly have an effect on exiting gasses and increase back pressure.

I shall have a look at the air cleaner - an interesting problem!!

Thanks for the advice!