alright yet another question about the f2 flatbed. the orignal idea was that i was going to dropp my fresh 400m in it get it running. but i found out that the 351 in there has less than 50hrs of running time on it before it was parked 5 years ago. so im going to see if i can get it running just for curious sake. I have a somewhat mental checklist of things that need to be done before starting it (ie: changing all fluids) but just wanted to ask what would you do? incase i missed somthing.

 

new plugs,wires,points and check out the carb. After you change the fluids(including coolant.) see if the motor is free.by putting a breaker bar on the crank and turning it. if it is put a spoon full of oil in each cylinder to lube the rings. before you crank it prime the oil pump by removing the distributer and putting an old oil pump shaft in a drill and crank it.
That should about do it.

Oh and replace the belts and hoses

Good luck

-DT

 

All of what DT said except for the order of the steps. Try turning it over with the breaker bar first. If it doesn't want to turn, pull the plugs, do some penetrating oil down each hole, let it sit for a bit, then try turning the crank over again.
The idea here is that if it is so frozen that it won't turn over, you don't want to waste the new fluids. You'll need a tear down. If it does turn over, then proceed with the fluids, electrical, carb, priming, etc.
I'm a believer in changing out all the plugs, points, etc also so that you eliminate those potential problem areas.

 

yea, if its frozen i will problay toss it.. got to many motors as it is.. 400, 454, 351, flat8, 460... think there is one more some where... but thanks for the tips! keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

Not long ago I "woke up" both my truck and an old Mustang that had sat for multiple years each. Did the things that DT and Randy Jack suggested and everything turned out great after some trial and error.
Here are a couple more thoughts:
Drain the fuel tank and put in fresh gas.
With the plugs out and a bit of penetrating oil squirted into the top of each cylinder, disconnect the fuel line between the fuel pump and the carb, put the loose end in a glass jar and run the starter a bit. Let the fuel pump run out some of the crud that will no doubt have collected in the lines. Mine looked like honey the first couple cranks, then turned nice and clear. You don't want to run bad/polluted gas into the carb, and you'll be verifying that the fuel pump is doing it's job. Put a new fuel filter in the line.

Cranking it without the spark plugs will help lube the cylinder walls and rings before they are asked to create compression.

Your carb may work, but will probably need rebuilding to run well. My truck has trouble idling until it warms up.

The 289 in the Mustang was a bit worse for wear than the 292 in the truck. The accelerator pump diaphram on the Mustang's carb was shot and leaked fuel all over the place. Not good. Also, the diaphram inside the mechanical fuel pump was also shot and gas was squirting out the pressure relief holes. It can also get fuel into the crankcase this way, which is bad. Replacement fuel pump was 18 bucks at the local discounter, and a carb rebuild kit had the accelerator pump diaphram I needed without having to tear down the whole carb. Fixes cost a total of about 30 bucks.

Good luck!

ROB

 

They he said, drain the gas tank and add fresh gas. Change oil. But I wouldn't spend money on a filter until you see if it starts.

I like the suggestion of pulling the fuel line off the carb and pulling the plugs off the cylinders to clear the fuel line and get oil pumped through the engine before firing. Squirt MMO or PB Blaster in the spark plug holes.

I'd also clean up all three grounds; the ground between the engine and the battery, the engine and the truck frame, and the ground between the engine and the firewall/instrument panel. Make sure you have good clean connections to the starter. If the distributor has points, do a static timing of the distributor.

I wouldn't spend any money on plugs, wires, oil filter, rebuilt carb, etc. until you see if the engine is going to run right; good vacuum and compression after it starts.

 

well good news... i hand turned it with out no problem... it actually turn before it was even ready to put any kind of stress on the wrench... so i check fluids, and turned her over... no luck. turned out the fuel pump diaphram was gone... so im pulling one off of another motor tomarrow.. also the coil was cooked, so i grab a high performance one i had in my room, check the spark and everything worked out great. so as soon as i get that fuel pump she should start right up... find out tomarrow!

 

well she started!!! didnt last long... gotta swap out the coil wire.. but after 5 years she started with no problem, fuel line was clean, oil what somewhat transparent still... very impressed

 

I recently revived two engines, a Chev 235 that had sat for 20+ years and the 292 in my truck. I did all the standard tricks you guys suggested, minus the oil in the cylinders and spinning the oil pump . They were, however, spun a few times without starting. I kinda feel sheepish that I forgot this step, but both engines run fine with no oil consumption. I guess I just lucked out these times, but next time I will oil 'em. I think I was just giddy with excitement and wanted to lite 'em up.

 

With the y-blocks, I think I would add one bit of advice; be sure to use motor oil or oil additive that contains the zinc-diarylphosphate, ZDP. GM EOS contains this type of high pressure lubricant. The camshaft on Y-blocks needs this type of lubricant and I've seen some wiped-out cams on 223's, 292's and 312's, so there must be something to this.

 

well sadly when it was started it backfired a few times and threw the timing off, now its getting no spark yet the coil and distrib are working properly, problay has to do a with the crummy 12v half done coversion... so now its time to do make everything on the truck 12v and drop the 400m racing motor in... i should problay get my gallery up and show the progress.

 

Are you sure the 351 is no good?!? I'd be pretty tempted to troubleshoot the 12V wiring and get some more use out of it before I yanked it in favor of the 400M, especially if it only had a few miles on the rebuild before it was parked. Probably lots of miles still left in the 351, I'm guessing.

ROB

 

yea, i mean it wouldnt take much to get the timming fixed and so on... one is to put money into a stock motor, and two why do that when i have a full race motor that has no miles on it? im still gonna keep the 351 and fix it along with dropping mild cam, springs and intake, but like i said why put money into a motor to get my truck running when i have a freshly rebuilt one?

 

Any good running motor in a truck is better than a project on the floor.. Get the one running thats in itr and do as U like with the other intill U need it .. A spare is always handy

 

exactly, the it was gonna be the other way around.. use the 351, and keep the 400 for fun and the 460 as a backup