Hi guys. I just bought a 77 chevy caprice wagon. It's in decent shape for its age. Has a 350 4bbl. runs good, but secondaries aren't kicking in. I also own a 66 corvair monza coupe and belong to the corvair center forum. I'm looking forward to exploring this forum and reading the posts. I'm sure I'll have questions along the way. -Paul-
Paul, I see it used to be a woody. I notice some rust around the rear side window, are you planing on rriving or re-doing the old girl? Enjoy the nut house
Thanks for the welcome guys! Unfortunately, I won't be restoring / reviving the old girl. I bought it to be used as a daily driver / winter car for when I put the 66 Monza to bed for the winter, or when I don't feel like diving it. I grew up with wagons like this, although the last wagon we had was a 70 Kingswood the same color as this one. After that, Dad bought a 74 Impala sedan. I've wanted a Chevy wagon for a while now and stumbled across this one for 900 bucks. It's got a 350 4bbl. One of the issues It has is that the secondaries don't open up. When it comes to dual Rochester single barrels I'm good, but I know nothing about Quadrajets. My plans for this car are to buff out the paint and give it a good coat of wax, patch the rust under the 3rd seat in the way back and POR 15 the underside. Needs new front tires as well. Basically, get it looking as decent as possible and make it run as good as it can then just use it as a driver. The interior is fair. The front carpets are shot as is all the weather stripping. The driver door hinge is worn out as well. The ac didn't work, but has been converted to 134A, so I put in 4 cans of stuff and it seems to be working. However, the fan isn't blowing. I can hear it come on, but doesn't blow out of the vents. It does come outunder the dash and from the defroster vents. The controls seem to do nothing. Any suggestions on the carb and blower issues? Thanks again and I'm looking forward to participating in your forum. Enclosed is a pic of my 66 Corvair. Oh yeah, Teddy, how can you tell it had the woody package?
Welcome, Paul. Nice pair of Chevys you've got there. Back in 1971 or so, I had a yellow '66 Corsa (turbo) hardtop for a while - my first sticky shift car. That's one I wish I didn't let get away, but back then I could only afford one car at a time.......
Thanks Silver, I kinda thought it was. The sides were definitely repainted. I'm not crazy about the wood anyway. Rev, My 66 Corsa was a Fitch Sprint with all the goodies except the fastback roof.
Welcome, glad to see another GM box wagon out there. The carb secondaries and the blower direction are all vacuum controlled. Start with checking the vacuum hoses and it should get you some better ventilation and performance.
Thanks Roketrex! Lotsa hoses to check, but I'll check them all. The old 350 runs good otherwise. Except for a "slapping" noise when I start it up cold. the PO said he was told by his mechanic that it was a bad /worn timing gear. Goes away after a few minutes. Does that sound right? It is definitely not lifter noise. Checked the timing with a light and the mark does not jump around at all. It advances slightly when I give it throttle as I think it should. Once I get the bugs worked out, this should be a great wagon!
Slapping noise could be anything. It might be as simple as an air pump if it has one to piston slap. Until it gets to be a constant noise, it probably is not too serious. If the car idles smooth, the vacuum lines are most likely all hooked up, just not in the right place. Good luck, since the engineers thought that more vacuum lines the better in pre-computor days.
I replaced a couple of small vacuum lines to the carb tonight, along with pcv valve and breather filter. It idles smooth as silk and accelerates with no hesitation. I'm not sure if the secondaries are working or not. I must remember that this is a 5000lb car and the 77 350s weren't the most powerful of the 350's. I just remember back in 77, my friend's Dad bought a new Impala with a 350 4bbl and it seemed to have more "kick" to it. Then again, I was driving a 74 Impala 350 2bbl and anything seemed faster Plus that WAS 33 yrs and many lost brain cells ago.
