'65 Suburban engine/trans combo

I have a '65 Suburban currently running a '63 283 4BBl with a '78 TH350. The motor came out of a '63 Biscayne 4 door with a powerglide. my problem is lousy performance and mileage. I would like to keep the engine and trans, but need to know what I can do to increase performance for town and highway driving. I was reading the article on the guy with the yellow '66 Sub, and he is running the same combo as I am. I dont want a race truck, just something I can drive everyday. Weight of my truck is between 5000 and 5500 lbs. Can just add a better cam to help things out? The rear gears have been replaced, with new 3.73's. I used to have a 350cuin, with 3.07's but dont remember having this many issues with it. Also, just recently, it feels like my trans is slipping. When I start out from a stoplight, it feels like it "skips" a few times, then smooths out, and shifts normally. Someone told me it could be the torque converter. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any help
Paul  

a few things...   do a transmission service..    where you drop the transmission pan.. drop the filter and install a new Dacron filter..  refill with 1 quart of Type F fluid and the rest.. probably 3 more of dextron ...   if its slipping you have to fix that first..   you might be able to save it..  if not.. rebuild it..

please use the wix 58894 from oreilly's



what kind of ignition system do you have.???   stock points????

how much slack is in the timing chain of the 283...

how is the compression...   early heads had soft seats.. that will need to have hard valve seats installed..  

do you know what the casting number is on the heads.. or is it a triangle mark???? ^

when was the last time you rebuilt the rochester 4 barrel carb...

the 283 is going to have a hard time pulling the truck if its tired.. and out of adjustment..  if the transmission is slipping..

how is the front wheel alignment... run your hand across the tire tread???  it is nice and smooth without from inside to out and outside to in....  so you are not trying to push the tires sideways down the street...

how does it roll in neutral???    can you on level ground with the tires pumped up to normal pressure push it with one hand.. ???   this is really where the fuel economy is created...

you can get tremendous fuel economy from a 283..   you might want to swap on a 2 barrel rochester..   or a motorcraft 2100 if you can find one with a 102 or 106, 108  cast into the drivers side of the float bowl..   or a 350 holley 2 bbl  if you want to stick with a 4 bbl..   look around for a 8007 holley.. 390 CFM 4 bbl.. there is a new number for the 390 street 4 bbl..

why go to a tiny 4 bbl.. or a tiny 2 bbl... lets you get into the main circuits earlier..  so you can have better fuel economy..

i drop in here a few times a week..

with a 283.. looking for fuel economy.. you have to be very careful with the size of the intake runners.. so you don't slow the air down by increasing volume..  

Ok, the ignition is Ignitor, the engine was rebuilt I believe in the late '90's, and I just did a trans service about a month ago.The carb is a Carter 4 BBL, which was rebuilt about 3 months ago. My tires are probably part of the problem as they are 235/75R15 Goodyear Wrangler Radials which I try to keep aired up to 35 psi.I checked the compression last year, and all the cylinders were good. Not sure about the slack in the chain though. This motor originally came with a 2bbl Rochester, which I still have along with the intake. I'll have to get the casting number off the heads.
Thanks for the help, and I'll put the casting numbers on here later this morning.  

On the front of the heads, there is a rectangle with a single "pyramid". I'm assuming the casting numbers are under the valve covers? I'll pull them next weekend to get to the numbers.  

the pyramid are 283 4 bbl heads...  so don't worry about the casting numbers..

what intake and which carb do you have...

and have you done any tuning on it....   trying to get the jetting corrected for the much smaller engine that you have.???

most are jetted to run with a 350 cubic inch engine..

2 weeks on the transmission service.. and its still doing it..    did you install the gasket between the filter and the valve body..

how about the fluid level check with the engine running..

there are a bunch of things that can also be going bad.. like a worn governor bore.. where is spins under the round cover near the rear of the transmission.. they do wear the bore out and get sloppy.. causing weird shifting.. but i am not a transmission professional..


there are at least 2 or 3 articles on the rochester 2G carbs... that you have...  spread out through the magazines..

swapping that back on with the cast iron intake  after carefully going through the carb to make sure its perfect...  might restore some decent fuel economy..    you could also create or buy an adaptor plate to mount the 2G carb on your 4 bbl intake..

unless you have the PRE AFB/AVS carter carb that came with some early GMs in the late 50s and early 60's..  probably a WCFB..


______________carb numbers
1958 Chevrolet 2656 5657
1959-60 Chevrolet 2818 3059
1959 Chevrolet 2816 2817
1959-63 Chevrolet 3060 3061 3190 3500 3501
1964-65 Chevrolet 3696 3697  

in the mean time...

can you verify that the vacuum advance still works...  it should move the breaker plate when you apply vacuum  to it.. and it should HOLD vacuum when it is applied..

can you also inspect the mechanical advance in the distributer.. just by turning the rotor to verify that its spring loaded to turn in one direction a few degrees and then snaps back freely and fully..  

here is one of the articles on the rochester 2G.. these guys use it for racing...

http://www.circletrack.com/enginetech/ctrp_1101_rochester_2g_carburetors/viewall.html



oh.. and the ford 2100 carbs i mentioned.. i forgot to include that installing one calibrated for a 289 ford.. the jetting would be right in the ball park for your engine..


http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/0905rc_how_to_increase_carburetor_intake/index.html


just look at the fine points in these articles...  not how to improve the carb for power... and flow..