My 48 is my weekend driver. So it sits dormant Monday through Friday. Saturdays, I'll hop in the cab ready to go run my Saturday errands. I turn the key, hit the starter button, and the old flathead will crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and craaaaaaaank and craaaaaaaaaaaank and buzz.

So then I'll get out the battery charger, and hook it up for a few minutes. Then I'll get in, turn the key, hit the button and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and crank and the engine will finally start running.

I'll run my errands and it will start easily for the rest of the weekend.

So, what's going on? Is my fuel draining out of the carb after a while?

 

Sounds like your are not getting gas, maybe fuel pump issues...plugged screen on the pickup tube in your tank so takes awhile to allow enough gas to make to the pump, just venturing a guess..

 

You could install an inline fuel filter with a glass case near the carb, then you can see if the fuel is in the line after the truck sits.
Are you pumping the pedal while you are cranking it? Another thing you could do is look in the carb after the truck has sat, work the throttle, and verify fuel is shooting into the carb. If not either no fuel or bad accelerator pump.
I had one carb with a bad accelerator pump, would not start cold since you couldnt shoot gas into the intake by pumping the pedal. Once it was running it would restart ok once it was warmed up.

 

Do you have a choke hooked up on the carb ? That would help on cold starts after sitting. Have you tried priming the carb with a small bottle of gas ? Just grinding on the starter is going to make it wear out faster and mess up your battery. After about ten revolutions, if it doesn't start , it sounds like lack of fuel. Take the fuel line off at the carb and run it into a container and spin it over. You should get fuel from the line. If not , like John said , it could be a fuel pump issue or a clog.

 

If you have a mechanical pump you need to replace it the diaphragm that holds the fuel up is shot it will still pump once started but will not hold fuel up . as was said pour some fuel down the carb to start this will tell you if fuel is your problem for sure if so either your carb bowl is empty or there is no fuel in the lines

 

I have tried pumping the pedal, but it doesn't seem to help. I'll try working the throttle tomorrow and checking to see if fuel is shooting into the carb.

 

I do have a choke, and I have it pulled while trying to start. I haven't tried priming the carb.

 

Have you tried starting with the choke fully pulled?

 

Carburetors are made from base metals and add zinc to 'seal' the pores. Over time ethanol will erode the zinc allowing the fuel in the bowl to dissipate during extended periods of non-use. Unfortunately the same ethanol is also hard on the rubber parts of the fuel system including the diaphragm in the fuel pump. While it can probably keep up with demand while the engine is at running speed its output dwindles to nearly nothing at cranking speed - about 1/6th of idle speed. Add in a marginal fuel filter and you'll be lucky if it starts at all.

 

So my truck made a liar out of me this morning.

I pumped the throttle once while watching the carb, and it shot fuel. So I pulled the choke and hit the starter. It started right up.

 

Some of these old girls just need to be handled with special care. Seriously, many stories were told when these were daily drivers as to how to start them, what worked best for John's Ford may not work well for Jim's Ford.

 

Try non ethanol gas, sounds like your bowl is going dry in between runs. The ethanol gas evaporates quicker.

JB

 

My 50 Ford and my brother's 50 Mercury pickup have stock 6 volt systems and both evaporate the gas out of the bowl after several days. To avoid cranking it over for a long time we squirt gas in the vent to refill it. There's a 6 volt elect pump available that I'd like to try so I don't have to screw around like that. Not sure how well they work though.

 

Looks like I am having fuel issues. The truck died on me when I was out earlier today, and refused to start. I ended up having it towed home.

 

That's no good. I would start back at the tank and work your way forward to the carb. If it's rusty, rip and replace.

JB