I have a 1980 Chevy K10 with a 350 engine and the TH350 tranny.  I want to do some upgrades to make the truck run more efficiently and better overall.  I purchased the rig just this past Nov.  It only had 83,000 original miles on it and needs some TLC.  I am the third owner and the gentleman I bought it from kept it in a garage for most of the 13yrs he owned it.

I don't mind the Q-jet carb but am open to any suggestions on a new one.  The full exhaust needs replaced and unlike highschool, I don't want glass packs but want a racy tone, or attitude if you will.  I plan on adding a K&N air filter.

If you have any other suggestions, opinions, or past experiences feel free to chime in.  Thanks!  

Flowmaster 40 series will be real loud, I personaly like the 50 series delta flow, not as loud inside the cab but pretty aggressive out side. the rest of the "better overall" depends on what you are using it for primarily or what you plan to do with it later?  

Primarily this is my DD.  Future mods are a 2" or 3" lift, 16" wheels, 285/75/16 sized tires.  I do go hunting and off-roading occasionaly.  I won't mind if the exhaust is fairly loud, I just don't want the glasspack "pop".  More of a muscle or performance sound than just back country loud.  The truck already has dual exhaust so I will stick with that setup.  I was thinking 2 1/2" pipe but am not sure if that size is whats best for the truck.  

Read link below on duals vs true performance on MPG. Also a 80 is pretty smogged up and low compression with limit engine efficiency so do not get sights on decent MPG with it or think that any add on is going to make it happen either. Save money for gas.

Click Here  

If gas mpg is a concern I would keep the Q-jet. It's really a good carb anyway when they are kept clean and not monkeyed with. Don't go tryin' to rejet it just leave it where the factory set it. If it works good now don't kick a sleepin dog.  

I had a quadrapukeon my 86 sub w/350 a while ago and it wasnt runnin too hot at the time and stuffed a rebuild kit on it(my rd qjet rebuild,got better at it) and after I put it back on and adjusted the lifters cause they were slappin i got a best of 16mpg w/it...so if you feel confident to rebuild it, it should help.  

Snoman,  is the link you provided referring to fuel injected trucks?  Or does the same rules apply to the old carbureted ones too?  I would like to keep the dual exhaust. What would be the best system? (size, muffler, ect.)  I know I'm not going to get good MPG, I just want the truck to run like a top.  Right now it runs ok, but it could run better.  Needs timing adjusted,  throttle response is slow.  

Your pup will run better w/2 1/2" pipes and a 2 into 1 system for better throttle response. Flowmaster 40 series is a real nice loud sounding piece and not too loud in cab. I had true duals on my 82 sierra w/6.2 and had Lyons muffler shop in San Marcos,CA built me a custom one piece Y pipe into 4" pipe to a BIG ASSS flowmaster that woke the pup up big time and had better back pressure and throttle response going from duals to a 2 into 1 system.  

1980chevyK10:
Snoman,  is the link you provided referring to fuel injected trucks?  Or does the same rules apply to the old carbureted ones too?  I would like to keep the dual exhaust. What would be the best system? (size, muffler, ect.)  I know I'm not going to get good MPG, I just want the truck to run like a top.  Right now it runs ok, but it could run better.  Needs timing adjusted,  throttle response is slow.

It does not matter as all gas engine extract power the same way. If you really like dual you could try a very "short" cam like a H240 or so  as this would open exhaust later and have less overlap so less energy is quickly lost out pipe at lower RPM's.  

I think for now I'm gonna go with true duals running 2 1/2" pipe with either the flowmaster 40 or super 40 mufflers.  Also, I will rebuild the carburetor and put on the K&N air filter.

In the future I will put in the short cam.  What else could I do or is there anything else that is not super expensive that will have my rig running like a champ?  

when you get around to swapping cams i would look into some head work. some mild porting/polishing can really wake up even a fairly stock engine by increasing flow and thus making the engine more efficient. you could swap on a set of aftermarket heads or even some of the Chevy factory HP heads...i've even read that the newer Vortec heads(96 model+)will bolt on early blocks but ya need a Vortec specific intake then. anybody else heard that? maybe somebody can back that up, but if it is correct, that would be the way to go since they are very affordable and very common in the junk yards.  

the vortec heads will fit the old block, just need a vortec intake that has 8 mounting holes, reg intake has 12 and the valve cover will have to be vortec vlv cvrs too as they have 4 cntr mounting hole as the old has 4 on the outside of vlv cvr.  

thats what i thought...i knew i read that somewhere not just a dream or one of my brilliant thoughts on the toilet. i know the dodge magnum heads fit on a old skool (LA) chr s.b. but not the other way around  

I had heard that vortec heads would fit too and had thought about them as a possibility.  I'm not a mechanic of any sorts, but the entire setup would remain carbureted but with vortec heads and intake?  

yes the intake is carbed, go to gmperformancepartszone.com and they half all sorts of intakes and heads thatll work for app...