I just bought myself a '79 Blazer with the 350 engine and I am having power loss issues under acceleration. It does not do it all the time, however it is becoming more consistent. Once I have leveled my speed everything is fine. During idle I did notice my oil guage going up and down when I pressed the gas. The vehicle also backfires. I know the guy I bought it from says he recently replaced the fuel pump and over the last 1-2 years the vehicle was only driven about 500 miles and has 131,000 miles. I have no idea if anything has been modified over the years. Please advise. Thanks.

 

Sounds like it could be sticking mechanical advance weights in the distributor.

 

hmmm, okay I will look at that. looks like i have lost a bolt on the left side of my engine holding the ac bracket and this has caused the manifold to come loose and causing an exhaust leak. could this exacerbate any issues with power loss?