dmming it down a bit..

[TooManyCars]

OK I have just been given a 1985 chevy s10.. It is a 2.8 auto 4X4.. My dad bought it at an auction and so we know nothing about it..

Now the box is rusty and the cab has it problem's but it was free so
My dad gave me this truck because the previous owner was prolly related to a box of rocks or at least as dumb as one. almost every wire under the hood has been spliced and taped and none of the wires are in the looms.. so what I want to do is as the title says DUMB it down..

I will only be using this truck to play in the mud so I will be getting rid of as much as possible. no a/c no smog , nothing that doesn't have to be there..

So my question is what do I need to run this engine .. Only the bare essentials .. I what vaccume has to be there for that punny 2brl carb to work .. I have the repair manuals but they only help to an extent.

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

Do you know if it has an ECM? Trucks that had California emissions had an ECM with the carburetor. If the carb. only has an electric choke, then it's a Federal truck, and you've got options. If it has a plug for a TPS and the MC solenoid as well (should be a 2-pin plug on top of the carb.) then it's a California truck and you need to keep more stuff.

Assuming it's a Federal truck, you can lose pretty much everything but the distributor and the carburetor itself. You'll want to keep the electric choke wiring, of course. The distributor will have a vacuum line to it for the vacuum advance. That needs to go to a port on the carburetor that has full manifold vacuum, not ported vacuum. The difference (for those that don't know) is that ported vacuum pulls vacuum from above the throttle plate, not below, so vacuum at idle is low. This won't work as well with the vacuum advance as full manifold vacuum. Just try a few ports and see how strong the vacuum signal is at idle -- it will be obvious once you find both a ported and manifold vacuum port.

The rest can just be capped off. The carb. doesn't need external devices hooked to it to work. Though some of the fast idle / throttle cam follower dashpot stuff does want vacuum to work, it's not strictly necessary -- it will just make cold fast idle a bit more friendly. It is drivable without it.