so my truck sat for about 20 years before I got it. plug wires were eaten up by rats. put in new plugs , wires , coil , cap , rotor , points, and condenser. a little fuel down the carb and it actually fired and ran for about 10 seconds. pretty happy about it, didn't make any nasty noises. keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be a useable engine.

this is what I looked like when I got it .

 

You've already fired it up, but next time pull the distributer and run the oil pump before you start it.

 

nice. I built and installed an engine in my 70 f250 and then let it sit for almost 20 years. It had stuck valves that bent push rods. Other than that I was lucky.

 

Great. Keep coming back in and tell us how it behaves on the road. We keep telling people about replacing seals and rubber after dormancy but you may make a liar out of all of us.
Tough motors, eh?

 

I can see those piston rings groove now fill with rusty crud. Should have a good amount of blow by too. Braking should be fun also until serviced.

Orich

 

Even simpler is to just pull the center lead on the distributor (coming from the coil) ground this lead and then crank the engine over.

The distributor doesn't have to be disturbed, no damage will be done to the coil (since it'll have a ground path to discharge to) the engine won't fire up and the engine will get lubricated from cranking it over.

Once done, put the coil lead back on the distributor and the engine will be ready to fire up with no fumbling around trying to get the distributor stabbed back in or retimed.

 

Ain't it a good story though?
Does anyone believe that we could lay up a 2014 Ford today and have a grandson fire it up in 2034?
Yeah, the OP has a story to tell us. We will see what fails as he goes forward. But what he wrote warms my heart. I guess that is why we stick with the old iron.

Wine drunk,
Semper Fi

 

My 16 year old son has a 2009 Chevy Silverado 4x2 4-door truck. From time to time, he'll make some derogatory remark about my old Ford truck. I tell him if his truck is still running nearly 50 years after its manufacture date, then he can say something. However, I've told him I highly suspect his truck will have long since gone to the bone yard, well before 50 years and that it'll have been crushed, melted down and repurposed into a set of rear bumper brackets for an old Ford truck.

 

They'll be searching for old floppy disc readers so they can install a software patch so the fuel injectors will fire or something like that.

Maybe Air Bag Disposal Squad teams will be part of the startup routine.

 

I cranked it with the coil unhooked to get the oil flowing before I fired it. When I can hook up a temp fuel source I'll see how it really runs. Can't drive it though. The trans is shot

 

Even if the tranny is shot for now, you made a giant leap by just getting the engine to turn over. Starting was a big bonus!

 

yeah, I was pretty happy. when I went to look at it, I brought a breaker bar and socket with me, so I knew it wasn't stuck. so I figured ( hoped, lol ) I had a good chance of getting it to run with a good tune up.

 

A temporary fuel source is a good plan; the tank is probably nasty. I ran a boat tank on my hood for 50 miles when my fuel pump went out. Gravity fed.