[lizziemeister'sV6]

Originally Posted by OldRed

Hello folks,

I purchased a 1961 GMC 1000 series with the big block V6 this past fall. With the warmer weather here in Maryland I finally got around to spending some more time working on it. When I bought the truck it had been sitting for about 2 years, the previous owner purchased it from someone who must've made some cheap body repair (which has led to a good amount of rust now) and was basically driving it around town for fun on the weekends. It was going to get a total restore, ended up sitting outside for a while, and I wound up buying it as a non-driving, non-running project.

I wanted to make sure she would run before moving on to fixing the brakes/clutch (it seems there's a leak and therefore I'll have to upgrade to separate hydraulic systems and replace the clutch). I did not have spark, and rather than buy a new ignition coil, I figured I would upgrade the distributor as so many of you mention it makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, in my haste of night shift and excitement, I did not realize that there is an even fire Buick v6 and an odd fire, and purchased an aftermarket odd-fire HEI distributor.

I have already installed the new distributor, with the old gear from the points distributor, I purchased the collar/sleeve for it from a fellow member on here, and I also pulled my mechanical fuel pump (it went bad) and replaced it with an in-line carter electric fuel pump. I have spark at my plugs, and fuel to my carb (it came with a Holley), but the truck just won't run. I am 99.9% it's due to timing, which I can't get right because the odd fire distributors don't match the even fire.

So...in an effort to conserve just a bit of money....am I correct in thinking I can purchase just an even fire cap, and new mechanical weights for inside, and swap those two things? Or is there more to it? Does the internal HEI module need to be swapped? I really want to avoid having to purchase an additional distributor but don't want to continue making my life harder. Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!

There's a NOS GMC V6 distributor that fits your truck on Ebay at this very moment. To make your life simpler I would purchase that distributor and throw all the mis-matched cobble parts you have in a box and put it on a shelf. With the new distributor your truck will be running and you can enjoy it. Pretty easy (plug and play). I see this happening alot on these old trucks and cars - people buy them and start upgrading them before they even know what they have. Most end up never finished and left in a garage or back yard in a sad state of affair. Sadly they end up scrapped and gone forever. Learn what you have before you start "improving". Work smarter not harder.