Hi guys. I?m new to this forum, and was hoping that someone here could guide me in the right direction before I lose all my hair. I've had my original 1949, ? ton with a 216 for a couple of weeks now, and I've been fixing it up, doing a 12V conversion, new lights and such. This is my first classic truck and I?m loving it , and my primary goal is to get it running and driving so I can enjoy it. During these weeks I've started it up a couple of times since but only by using starting gas/fluid but was not able to run at idle and ran overall pretty bad. But it started and ran. My mechanical fuel pump broke (bad internal seal) and I'm now using an electrical fuel pump. Read about Nates valve adjustment procedure and wanted to see if I could get it to run better, but I wasn't able to get it going long enough to do the procedure with a warm engine. On a cold engine I Followed the procedure (.006" intake and .018" exhaust). Gap was way off, and once I finished and got it running again it ran a bit nicer but not good enough. Tried to adjust fuel/air mixture, but no effect. With mixture screw fully in and out without noticing any difference. Then I decided to try to get the engine warm from running like half an hour. Did Nates valve adjustment procedure again and it ran much smoother after that, and was also able to idle. Great. Decided to take it out for a spin and it ran fairly well for about 2 miles, then it just died on me and I couldn't get it started again (even with starter fluid) and had to tow it back home. Strange sunce it always started with starter fluid?. Noticed that the gas filter was full of dirt, so I figured that was the problem. Cleaned out the gas tank and glad I did, a lot of gunk. Also cleaned fuel lines, added a new gas filter, gas and tried to start it up but it wouldn't start even with started fluid. OK, so I figure I had to clean the carb as well but wasn?t much dirt there. Still wouldn?t start. Checked for spark, and I had spark (got spark plug gap set at .035). Looked a bit weak though so I tried a new coil but still the same. I've now tried everything I can think of and I?m getting desperate. I've tried new parts in the following order New coil, new condenser, points, rotor, cap and still dead. In a desperate attempt I've even adjusted the valves at .010" intake and .020" exhaust. No change. What am I missing or doing wrong? Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Won't Start I'm not there so this is hard to diagnose but , # 1 thing : go back and properly set the valves . Does it cough or back fire ? any indication the fuel is igniting ?. A weak spark is usually a bad ground or power wire , often there's a nick cutting 1/2 the strands or some times the connector on the end of a wire is hanging by a few strands ~ I found this deep inside the frame of a 1968 Honda Moto last month ~ it was bugger all hard to start but ran O.K. once running . Ignition timing static to ball on pointer ? New point were carefully washed of the coating on the contact surfaces ?. Be VERY careful of adding fuel to get it started ~ FIRES ARE BAD . That being said , I always used a squeeze bottle full of gasoline as Ether floods the plugs quickly if you spray too much in .
Check the heat riser! Sounds like the manifold heat riser is stuck. Doesn't matter much on a cold engine, but once it has warmed up, you won't crank it again until the engine cools down.
Thanks guys for your input. It took a couple of days for my thread to be posted so I kept working on the issue, and I'm almost 100% sure that I've found the problem. Got the engine aligned in the TDC pos (cyl 1). the rotor was not close to cylinder 1 position, more close to cylinder 4. I haven't touched the timing, so I pulled out the distributor and removed the "breaker plate" and found that the "weight cover and stop plate" was in pieces. Found a used distributor over the pond (US) and, now just waiting for it to arrive. This forum is awesome, so much information I've found and great members. Will post some pictures of the truck soon.
Welcome, Mike. Look forward to seeing your truck. How did you come to be in possession of an old American pickup? I'm wondering if there are many on your side of the 'pond'? One of our members is sorta' a neighbor of yours. Blueflame, (Martinius Berg) is in Norway. That's right around the corner, isn't it?
Distributor & other parts. Hey there Mike , welcome to the forum. Its one of the best you can get. Great People and good expertise thats for shore. I`ll presume your located in Great Brittain ? I have a couple of good working distributors from a 216 -235 engine and some other 3100 1 series truck parts. Tell me what kinda engine you have and maybe i can help you out ? You could send me an PM or e.mail martinius.berg@bbnett.no
Hi, I'm actually from east of Norway, Sweden. I hoping that the distributor I have on its way will work, if not I will contact you. I might contact you for other parts though. I will probably be looking for a few parts soon, like left door, front and rear bumper (would like chrome ones (condition not important), mine are painted) and possibly something more. You don't happen to have a working speedometer you don't need? /Mike
