4.3 ltr V6 - Hi All, first time poster. Please forgive me if this post is in the wrong place, I am brand new and it will take me some ...

Hi All, first time poster. Please forgive me if this post is in the wrong place, I am brand new and it will take me some time to learn to navigate the site.
I just bought this truck, just got it home today and I am very excited! I have known the truck for the last 20 years, as it belonged to my BIL (brother-in-law) and I always told him if he ever decided to sell I wanted first shot. Well that day came and she is sitting in the back yard as I type. I have been doing research most of the afternoon, and finally after some frustration I found this site and I'm hoping some of you can help.
First off, this is a 1985 GMC, with the 4.3 V-6 with a 4bbl carb, standard cab, long bed, dual exhaust, (no catalytic converters) with 81,000 origional miles. My plans are to first- fix it up and drive it, and second- restore it as close to original as possible.
So far I have found several problems, and I'll list them as best I can. 1st- The truck is "very cold natured" according to my BIL. When first started, the first time of the day, you have to crank and pump, wait, crank and pump, wait, crank and pump, wait........until she finally starts. After she runs for a few minutes with the choke on and warms up, she will start every single time for the rest of the day. Its just that first time that is a real bummer. 2nd thing is, at some point in its life the AC stopped working and somebody (probably my BIL) disconnected the compressor, and I'm thinking some of the vacuum hoses (which I think is causing problem number 1). The 3rd thing is there is a small leak somewhere in the coolant circuit causing it to loose water, I saw water at the top of the thermostat so I'm planning to look at it closer this weekend. The body is in great shape with no dents, but the clearcoat is peeling off and it will need to be painted again soon. All in all I think I got a great deal at $1k, and I'm hoping to put another $1k in it and drive it another 30 years.
So basically what I need to know is, how do I correct the "cold start" thing? Where can I find a vacuum hose routing to make sure all the hoses are correct? Any advice on the loosing water thing? and what are your thoughts on the clearcoat peeling thing?
Sorry for such a long first post! Thank you in advance for any help you can offer!
Dave aka Southernkilowatt.

(1) If it has a Quadrajet, they tend to leak fuel past the plugs in the bottom of the main venturi body above the throttle plate assembly. You can fix that by rebuilding it. When you have it apart you can use some J.B. Weld and epoxy around them (the 4 plugs) so they do not leak all the fuel out overnight. I doubt the vaccum hose routing is the problem, as it only does it on the first start up of the day. (2) If the A/C has been open that long, it will probably need all the major components replaced to get it working correctly (compressor, evaporator, condensor and reciever dryer).(3) pressure test the cooling system to find where it is leaking. Fix the obvious leak you saw first.

Will there be a schematic of the carb rebuild in the kit or do I have to find one on the net?

It's been a while since I've done one. I think the only thing the kit has is a sheet to tell you how to set the float level. You should be able to find it on the internet. You can do a search for "quadrajet well plug". and it should tell you more about it. There are a lot of small parts in a carburator, so, you have to be careful. You could just remove the throttle plate assembly to get to the well plugs and not do a complete rebuild. You would probably need a rebuild kit to replace the one gasket between the main body and yjr throttle plate.

Ok, I'll give that a shot tomorrow. Thanks for the info! BTW how do you post pictures here? I wouldnt mind putting a few up of the ole girl.
thanks!

I can do it, but I'm not real good at explaining how to do it. I can help with truck advice, but not so much with computer help. Maybe someone else can advise you how.

To post a picture got to post a reply then below the window you type in the is a folder called upload attachment, click on it , then browse for file name, then add the file, then post in line, I hope this helps.