Hi guys, It's been quite awhile since I seriously fooled with the old truck, life getting in the way. My trusty Sonoma finally died so I'm looking at the '54 as an alternate means of transportation. I've just about finished replacing all the brake lines and rebuilding wheel cylinders so I decided to try to fire her up. The last time I did so was about a year and a half ago. The fuel pump had quit so I used the gas can on the hood trick and let it run for awhile. While replacing the fuel pump I had water pouring out of the block while loosening the fuel pump bolts. I drained the oil and searched old threads here and came to the conclusion that it was from rain leaking in over the years. I had the valve cover on but not bolted down. I checked the radiator and it seems to be full. I refilled the oil, replaced the points, plugs and coil. She fired up and ran fairly well. Smoked a good bit. I let it run about 30 minutes total (a few stops and starts). I was concerned that the oil gauge didn't register. i couldn't tell if oil was coming up through the weep holes since I kept adding oil (I had a hard time telling if the dipstick was reading true or if it kept smearing on the way out of the tube.) It got a little hard to start so I researched again and decided I needed to do a valve adjustment. In the meantime I decided to drain the oil, empty the oil filter and refill knowing that the block should take five quarts and the filter more. When I first did the valve adjustment I compared Nate's instructions from Deve's site to the owner's manual instructions and noticed the book doesn't mention pulling the plugs and checking the rotor position etc. So of course, that being the easier way,was the way I tried it. Fired it up and it made alot of noise so I decided to use Nate's instructions. Now for my questions (sorry it's so long but I didn't want to forget any clues ) When I aligned the ball with the pointer and pulled the distributor cap i noticed the the rotor was not pointing at #1 but rather #4. Does this mean my timing's off? What else should I be checking before a test drive? I plan to do a tune-up, flush the radiator and a couple more oil changes to make sure there is no more water. Thanks, Joshua
No, that means that if you turn the crankshaft ONE more turn and stop at the ball the rotor will be pointing at #1.
6 is 180 from 1 4 and 5 are adjacent to number 1. With pointer on the ball on the compression stroke you should be under number 1 to start your timing procedure. Check with a timing light, vac gauge would be helpful. You may find it runs better advanced a bit.
Joshua ; Does it run smoothly on all 6 cylinders ? . If so do not be in any hurry to remove and reposition the dist . Follow the basics first , get those valves spot on then set the points gap (or better yet set the dwell to 33?) then get it running and set the ignition timing to ball on pointer . if it runs well and idles O.K. , starts fine , don't sweat the position of the rotor , folks do odd things over the decades so do the basics and make it run well , then drive it , once you have back up transpo you can fool 'round with the dizzy .
Thanks for the responses guys. Nate, it seems to be starting and running fine. My kids and I re-did the valve clearances today (cold) and it fired up fine. I have points gap at .019 I think as that was what the manual said for new points. My next concern is that I am getting no oil to rocker weep hole and the oil gauge stays at zero. I let it run for a bit at fast idle hoping to see some trickle but saw nothing.
Take it apart I just had this problem...take the rocker assmb off and soak and clean everything. Be sure you know how it came apart. I used a 20 gauge bore brush (had a brand new one in the gun cleaning kit) to clean the inside of the tube. I also replaced the oil pump. Take the line off the back of the gauge and out of the tee on the block and hit it with some air and make sure the tee is clear. When it all went back together there was about 15 lbs of oil pressure. That's when Nate and others told me to drive it. If you search oil pressure you'll find some posts. Good luck. Bring plenty of rags and beverages Papy
The points gap is supposed to be .016" (.019" is for V-8's) . Try Papy's advice , me I'd pull the oil pan off and clean the goop out of the oil intake screen , it often looks like the bottom of the Okee Fenokee Swamp . If you like to gamble , drain the oil out and fill it with synthetic 5W - anything , this is super thin and incredibly detergent and it'll soften up the gooey crud but , you might ' wipe ' the bearing shells before they get good lubrication so I'd not do it .
Thanks again, guys. I got a NOS NAPA oil pump coming from E-bay and plan to disassemble and clean a little bit each night after work before it gets here. Unfortunately, daylight savings time and laying in the dirt hampers me enough to just tackle a little at a time. Nate, FWIW my owner's manual suggested .019" for new points and .016" for used ones (something about wear on the new ones). I've no practical experience in the matter so I try my best.
Ignition Points Yes , they do wear and GM used to say this , I'd *thought* it was more for V-8's . If you find a Dwell Meter (yard sales very cheap) , adjust them to 33? Dwell and see how great it runs . Pertronix is good too .
