Didn't see a specific thread for introductions so here goes. I joined the site a few weeks ago and have been searching the pages for info almost daily in anticipation of my new purchase. As of Tuesday, I and my wife took posession of a 1954 F250. This truck belonged to my wifes father who used it originally on their farm and to drive to work as a bulldozer operator. He was still driving it in 2000 when he passed away. After a few years her mother moved to an apartment and had an auction. We made a mistake that we regretted for years and let the truck be sold. I can't count the times my wife said since then, "I can't believe we sold that truck." She had grown up with it, learned to drive in it, and even drove it to high school. A few months ago, I happened to run into the fellow who had purchased the truck on auction. To my surprise, he had sold it to his son who had parked it on thier farm, intending to fix it up, and it had not moved since. "Ol Blue" had been only a few miles away all these years. I convinced him to sell it back to me, and this week I surprised my wife with it as a early anniversary present.

I am now ready to dive into this project with limited time and money, sound familiar? I know the motor is free, I can turn the fan and the crank will move. My first intentions are to drain oil and clean out the pan, pull off the valve cover to make sure no valves are stuck, put some oil in the cylinders, unhook the gas line, and see if it turns over. My first question to this group is: Do you think I need to pull the distributor and run the oil pump to get oil moving? Supposedly the truck was run about a year and a half ago, but I take that with a grain of salt. Would pouring fresh oil over the valves, head, etc. somewhat accomplish the same thing, just until I see if it will fire? It does not have a radiator at this time, so I can't actually run it for long, but what I budget for will depend on if it will run as is or not.

The truck is complete otherwise, surface rust but only a few tiny holes. Wish me luck, here goes nothin'. May try posting some pics when I have more time.

 

Very cool story! Glad you got it back into your family line.

 

Hi and welcome aboard, great to hear that you were able to get Ol Blue back.
Advice is on it`s way, I hope you really enjoy the old beast.

 

Welcome Cabledude,
You will find this site to be friendly and very helpful. We tease but it is all in FUN. The search function here is a beautiful thing. If you dont find anything throw your ques.tions out there and some of the "experts" will come along and help out

 

Welcome to FTE! Sounds like a great project...

 

Hi and welcome aboard. My name is larry and there are a lot of people on this thread that can help you with just about anything you would like to know about your 1954 F250 truck. You will get answers to your questions pretty fast so don't wait to ask any question even if you think it is a dumb one.

 

This is just my 2 cents but if it was my truck and I thought it had sat for 9 or 10 years without being cranked up, I would do like you said and replace the oil then pull the dizzy and pump some fresh oil through it. Pull the fuel line, rig a safe way to get some gas to the carb and see if she would fire off. Oh and welcome to FTE! Looking forward to hearing if she fires off and post some pics when you can.......

 

Welcome to the FTE and congratulations on bringing a 'lost seep' back to its family. That's a great story. Great stories are a very real part of most of what comes down on this web site. - When you can, please change your info so your locality will appear with your postings. Someone on here might be a neighbor and in a position to lend a hand in your quest to get Ol Blue back in business. Your locality might have lots to do with how quickly Ol Blue will come around. If the radiator was AWOL and plain water was added back when the cooling system presented problems, a cold weather region could spell trouble. Let's hope the PO did not make that mistake. Good luck and keep us informed on your progress. - BTW, you have a wonderful advantage in pursuing the old truck / car hobby by having an appreciative wife. Lots of wives think the old car / truck pursuit is waste-of-time-boys-play. That can be a significant impediment to the enjoyment of these endeavors.

 

Thanks for all the welcomes and input. I have read there is a special tool to insert down the distributor to turn the oil pump. Could the existing shaft just be attatched to a drill and turned instead? Going to order a few items tomorrow, so probably won't actually get a start for a week or two. Will add to the personal info. Thanks again.

 

PLEASE don't pull the pan and start cleaning the gunk off unless you are ready to pull the engine and do a complete overhaul. Even just removing the pan will loosen some of the layer of hardened sludge that coats the inside of about every engine of this era. This just starts the engine down a path of self distruction where some of the disturbed sludge will soon come loose fall into the pan and plug the oil pump. If the engine doesn't fire or get some oil pressure, then you likely have no choice but to pull the engine and rebuild it. If you go that route, then strip the block and all the parts and take them to an automotive machine shop or rebuilder and have them all boiled and the oil passages gun brushed clean before rebuilding. Meanwhile, drain and put some good quality oil in the engine and see if it runs. as long as you don't gun it a lot as soon as it starts, it will have enough residual oil and soon oil pressure that no damage should occur. DON'T put any cleaners, additives, kerosene, diesel oil, cooking oil, hair oil, or any other homebrewed cleaning product some well meaning but clueless person might suggest to use in the engine!
Save any and all cleaning for the outside of the engine until you are ready to do the inside right. "Let sleeping dogs lie" and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" are good philosophies to use here.

 

I agree with AX. Do just the minimum to see if it will fire up.

I might be tempted to pull the plugs and clean them off, change the oil and filter, drain the gas tank and put a couple gallons of good clean gas in it, put a short squirt of motor oil in each cylinder, then turn the engine over with the plugs out of it for 10 seconds or so to get some oil up to the top end and fuel up to the carb. Put the plugs back in and I'll bet it starts right up!

Welcome to FTE by the way.

 

Engines are pretty tough, it's only when the sit exposed to the weather or had a problem already when set aside do they typically seize up. Julie's method is spot on as usual.

 

Welcome aboard.

On my 351W when I pulled the ditributor, I looked in the hole with a light and saw a hex style hole that a long hex-allen blade could fit into it. Something similar may be on yours. Then used a drill motor to turn it. Try to remember which direction of rotation you will need to turn it at.


Dale
Ford52F2

 

This sounds like a plan to me. I tend to overdo sometimes. The previous owner could not find the keys for it yet. Until I can order replacement keys and ignition switch cylinder, can I bypass the switch, to see if it will start?

 

Sure, two sets of cheater wires (10 ga stranded wire with aligator clip on each end) hook one wire end from hot side of battery (6V + grd unless it was converted to 12 V in the past that would be hooked to - side) and other end to batt terminal on coil (small terminal that DOES NOT go to the distributor) If you get a large spark, something is hooked up wrong. The other cheater wire is used to jump the starter solenoid until it starts. To shut off disconnect the first wire to the coil. Be sure the truck is out of gear and someone is sitting inside before attempting to start and/or jack the rear wheels off the ground in case the clutch and tranny are frozen in gear.
Oh, and don't try jumping a 6V battery with a 12V!