hey guys been reading up on this board for the last 3 hours before posting. i have a 54 chevy truck with a 56 235 (according to the numbers) possibly rebuilt. the truck had sat for about 4-5 years b4 i got it. got it running after a new fuel pump, points, plugs, rebuilt carb, fresh oil, antifreeze and new coil. i pulled the oil pan to change a leaky gasket the other day and noticed the pistons and cylinder walls look way too clean for a 60 year old engine. however the cam had some wear?!
right now the truck runs but fouls plugs within a couple weeks and backfires sometimes around 3k rpm and has the dreaded flat spot as soon as you hit the gas. oil pres. is right around 55-60 on start up then drops to 30-35 under load and 5-10 at idle. have yet to do a compression test.
another thing i noticed is the truck almost ran dry in oil after 2 weeks. i'm using 20-50 and had just changed it. however there is no smoke what so ever.
i'd like to determine if the engine has in fact been rebuilt first. and i plan on pulling it and freshing it up in the next months. i have a 3x1 offy intake with 3 matched 60's truck rochesters (RP's) to put in and plan on doing dual exhaust with speedway headers, as well as a HEI distributor. what would you guys recommend i do about the current issues and the future freshening?
here are a few shots i took when i pulled the pan plus some others
