Well, progress has been made. I got the thermostat sealed enough to hold some water with bubblegum and super glue while I watch for a new one. But I need some help. I want to see if I can get it running. Here's what I've done.

New plugs
Oil and acetone down the plug holes, turned it over by hand
Replaced gas lines with a temporary syringe
A little gas down the carb throat
New battery

So, the big news is that I have been able to crank it just by battery power! Woohoo! It's pretty intermittent, but my guess is that's corrosion. I'll tackle that in a bit, but I want to see if he'll fire.

He spins, but no fire. Here's some photos of my setup. Anything you'd suggest? My first (stupid) question. Which way is ignition ON? Far right I assume (but hate to assume at this point).






Fuelling setup. Will this work?




These are the points. What do I replace? Or clean? Or align?




Close up of engine. Wires look right?




Overall setup. See anything that needs addressing?




Ignition. Is this on? What's the middle position for?

 

I would be real nervous with that syringe full of gas first off.
What i typically will do first is pop the distributor cap and spin engine over to see if you see a spark when the points make contact. ( may need to file inbetween point contact area or sand with emory cloth or fine sandpaper etc.

Or pop a spark plug out and check for spark.
I wouldnt do either of these two things with any fuel nearby to start a fire with.

Once you have spark. Then add fuel. I would just start out by pouring (or in your case, injecting ) a few tablespoons worth of fuel directly into carb first.
Once you see that it runs then get your fuel delivery setup a bit safer.
I have an old boat outboard engine metal tank that i use.

Also make sure you have a heavy blanket to smother a fire and fire extinguisher or two.

 

Since you already have open fuel, maybe just file or clean the points contact area and crank it some more. Key should be all the way right. Your truck has the starter button on the dash. By the door still?

 

I used a gallon jug with a hose barb I fit into the bottom for my fuel I.V. A striker strip off a book of matches works for filing the points. Ditto on the fire extinguisher, had to use an old wool blanket one time to put the fire out. Smelled like burnt hair for a week. A person should always have a couple around anyways. Especially when my wife is cooking. Hope she doesn't read this. If your lucky the solenoid on the firewall will have a little button on the bottom of it you can push to turn it over. Some had them and some don't. Good luck.

 

That's a universal ignition switch, I used to have that one. ACC - OFF - IGN, left to right. But some that look the same have a START position spring loaded to the far right.

 

Have you checked to see if it has adequate compression?

Since we live in the same area I'd be happy to come by and give you a hand....or at least supervise, LOL Pm me if you want

 

If you run a jumper wire from the battery to the + side of the coil, you will bypass the ignition switch and any questionable wiring. The plastic piece where the primary (little) ignition wire enters the distributor housing is prone to cracking and grounding out the spark. Please be safe and keep fuel away from spark! My 48 F-1 with a 226 sat for ten years and I got it started. If you get spark, compression, and fuel, it can run.

 

Thanks all!!

Yes, I definitely have an extinguisher close by. But that's some good advice, I'll see what I can drum up. I was worried that without a pump I wasn't going to get fuel. Does the carb draw a vacuum to suck up fuel? I didn't want to create any unknowns I didn't have to, so I rigged up the syringe. But I'll take another look, see if there's a better way.

Yes, it still has the starter button by the door. I turned the key all the way to the right, and tried cranking again. No luck.

I popped out a plug, grounded against the block, and didn't get spark. So it looks like that narrows it (somewhat) down.

Tinman, thanks for the offer! If you're willing, I'd love the opportunity to learn from those that have done this before!!!! Shoot me a PM and we can figure out a time that works best for you.

Thanks guys! I'm still just so pumped it cranked!

 

The contact points will sometimes get a layer of skunge on them. While closed you could drag a crisp (new) dollar bill through them to sort of burnish the point surfaces. Try soaking the bill with a squirt of lighter fluid for solvent action too.

Spark needs to be bright blueish, and snap in the air. Yellow or red is no good, it won't have enough juice to fire under compression inside the cylinder.

 

I went through countless attempts to get my 226 started after it had been parked in a barn for decades. Someone on this board told me that these engine "want to" run, and I learned he was correct. It was also suggested that after sitting for so long, it might be helpful to add a few drops of oil into the cylinders through the plug holes to help it build compression for the first fire- I found that to also be good advice. If you can get the no spark issue resolved you will likely hear it try to come to life.

 

I am also trying to start a Flathead. Here is my procedure I followed to narrow down the problems. I tested voltage at the solenoid, coil and plug wire. By it turning over and getting spark at plug i knew it was in the start side of key switch.I added the wire to coil ,mine is 12v and tested with meter. I had fuel spark but it wasn't starting just a few pops. I took a guess my compression was ok by a thumb over the plug holes so i thought whats next Timing. i tried moving the distributor and nothing is locking it down. This is where i stopped yesterday.
As the others have said keep at it you will win.