Los_Control

was the first place for a flathead 6?

You actually should have 00 welding cables for battery cables. 6 volt just requires heavy cable, while in the years they introduced 12 volt cables, lots of cars/trucks got converted to the smaller cables .... they do not work worth a crap on a 6 volt system. Just do it right, It will cost you for a roll back to come pick it up. I made a deal on my truck, then was able to make a deal to have it delivered, I paid a xtra $100 because I knew they spent it in fuel. Then you have the opportunity in your drive way to put it back together like it was meant to be.

Pull it ... if you got room, the engine will turn over faster and start easier. ... still need the basics like spark, timing, compression. And brakes are nice once it does start ... if you got brakes, maybe it is a 15 year vacation for it ... I kinda doubt with 15 years you have brakes though. These flatheads are known to gum up in the valve stems after sitting ... pulling it will get the valve train moving faster ... still may not clear it, but true 15 years should not need it.

Then you are probably looking at a dirty connection. Remember, power is negative, ground is positive. On my truck, the battery power cable goes to the transmission, the Ground cable goes to the starter solenoid, operated by the stomp pedal. As long as you have a good battery and clean connections in these areas, The starter should work. If the starter is not working, you have 4 connections to clean on the battery cables. If it still does not turn over, then you need to pull the starter and most likely clean it up and replace anything wrong with it. Just because it turns over at this point, you still need to get good wiring to the distributor and points, coil .... is the most basic system you can find. I would myself, get it home on a trailer and then mess with it. Parked 15 years ago .... probably more like 25 years ago. They claim it was a daily driver before parked ... then why did they park it? Brakes need work clutch needs work electrical needs work Needs tires Needs new patches on the sheet metal Dont give up on it, these old trucks are awesome, and getting harder to find. Just have fun putting it back together, not some life threatening ride getting it home

Also you need to know, that these trucks are 6 volt with a positive ground. This means you connect the + side to the frame, and the - side goes to the starter .... did you connect it this way? You can connect a 12 volt battery same way to start it, just do not turn on lights ... wont hurt the battery .

these old trucks you can use a hand crank on them, just insert it through the grill and start it by hand. Or you may want to start checking electrical connections, grounds are very important on a 6 volt system.

Whats your fuel system like? I did have a similar issue where it eventually got bad enough, would run out of gas in driveway. I did throw a new fuel pump at it, bought it from Napa for not a lot of money. It did not fix the problem. I think the real problem was rust in the tank and clogging the fuel line. Today I pulled the tank and fuel line, When I pulled the drain plug on the tank, just rusty dirt fell out. I found a spot on the fuel line, smashed flat against the frame, was a little room left, but not much. They bottomed out the truck out in the field and smooshed the line. Something this old, I feel comfortable with the shotgun approach, throw parts at it. I have replaced or in the process of replacing the complete fuel system

I love reading squirrel's stuff. Last year they "Jim & his brother" Drove a old Cadillac Hearse with a flathead V8, and they dressed the part as undertakers for photo op's ... Was a great read. The year before, they drove a old corvair, had a solar panel on the roof, that powered some old 1970 tube amp with a set of Bose 501 speakers in the back seat, they had tunes! Hot Rod week is always fun also, He has been driving his 62 nova with the 427, last year he built a new car to get in a higher class. 64 barracuda with a 426 Hemi. Lots of bug chasing last year, bet it is dialled in this year. For all you young car buffs out there that want to know the secret to life .... Follow squirrels example, Marry well.

I have been running the plastic gas tank on my truck, I have it secured to the front bumper, rubber fuel line coming from fuel pump to the gas can. If you bypass the fuel pump and go straight to the carb, you need to have the tank higher then the carb so it can gravity feed. Probably start a siphon before connecting it. Just be sure to be safe and secure the can. I use some baling wire, it works. You do not want the can to fall and have the gas ignited by hot exhaust or spark plug wires.

106 here again today. I have been hitting it hard the last couple days. Trying to get ready for some paint, got some primer on yesterday. Then took the hour drive at 4:00 pm to tractor supply to pick up some more sand. I plan to have the old gas tank and fuel line out today, Pull the splash pans from the frame & paint. Minimal sand blasting of the frame. Pretty ambitious day planned for myself. So far, I pulled the generator out and sitting at the bench in front of the fan, sucking down water, typing on the computer while staring at the genny, waiting for paint to appear

I simply do not do my best thinking at 2:00 am I do have to deal with a Shepard & a Rottweiler at 2:00 am ... then lately have some idiot kitten I have to deal with .... somehow I do sleep. The dogs sleep with me ... now the stray kitten thinks it wants to sleep with me. West Texas it does get hot, We let it roll off our back like water on a duck.

Looking great PA .... one question, are those new gages? or did you paint them? Reason I ask, I see people paint starters and generators and the red tags look like new. Must take a incredible amount of time to detail these tags. Seems your gages would be almost impossible to paint.

was caused by a cat prowler

Just make sure she takes her old tire with her I use to have a coats 40-40, great machine and I loved having it around. What I found, no matter how hard I tried, I still accumulated piles of junk tires. I did work for a tire shop at the time, a couple of decades ago. It was easier for me to get rid of junk tires then the average Joe. Just a reminder to stay vigilant on it, Is fine to help a buddy out, make them take their old junk home. It will pile up on you quick. One of the smartest moves I ever made in my lifetime, I sold the 40-40 to my favorite uncle. Then when I needed to use a tire machine, I could always go to his house and use it. I feel sorry for his kids, Uncle died a couple months ago, they have a few hundred tires to dispose of .... not so easy today.

Rockauto or O'rielys maybe autozone sell a c522 Autoline carb. I bought mine from Rockauto, price is $147 + $95 core charge, total of $241. I rebuilt my core, sprayed the insides with oil, wrapped it in oily rag, then put it in the cardboard box and put it on the shelf. https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/autoline,C522,carburetor,5904 So now we are talking quality? I am not driving my truck yet, but start it up and move it from it's parking spot. Under the carport in front of the garage, so I can move another vehicle in and work on. I smiled the last time I started it, it sat for 3 weeks and started easier then my daily driver ... pull out choke, pump throttle 3 times, step on starter ...instant start. The Autoline carb idles perfect, it has full range with no missing. Appearance, it looks like a new carb and not a rebuilt. I am 100% satisfied with this carb for the price. Someday I may cuss it, but I still have the original spare. Way I see it, Mike has a long row to hoe, if he wants to sell carbs for $650

There is a dude on youtube that runs a welding shop, I watch a lot of his vids. He built a really nice tilt bed equipment trailer, and then had it all powder coated. He spent a lot of money having the powder coating done. Trailer worked perfect for his cat the backhoe, his bigger tractors etc... one 2 wheeled drive tractor he used a lot, tires would spin and start going sideways while loading. He had to grind the powder coating off, then weld cleats on the deck so the tractor tires could bite. ... Now is a compromised situation. If I build a hot rod with a flathead 6, (oxymoron) then santa clause drops a Hemi under my tree, going to have to grind and weld ... same thing if later I want to change my trans to a T5 or a crack develops in the frame, a shock mount breaks. I just would not use it on something I care about.

The biggie for me, my frame has survived 70 years so far, a new coat of paint and will look new again. Not impossible, but not easy to remove powder coating from hard to get to areas for future repairs. I just do not want powder coating on my classic auto. On the other hand, equipment, on/off road 4x4, motorcycles ... all good candidates for powder coating. And just my opinion.

Back when I use to be a manager in a tire retread shop, we had over $250k in equipment to maintain. One day I asked the mechanic who flew 2k miles to come work on our $30k buffer Why is that silly brass screw block in there. Cant we make something stronger to make it last longer? Answer was, this shaft will cost you over $5k to replace, This sacrificial brass screw block will cost you $200 plus labor ..... which do you want to replace? cars and machinery is actually engineered to have a sacrificial piece. And in a flathead dodge, the welch plugs is one of the pieces. Cheap and simple to replace.

Have you pulled the distributor out, check the vacuum advance is working, also is a short wire in there that can lose it's cloth insulation, ground out on you. I like falco's idea, I would just go a bit further and check the dist at same time.

Powder coating is something I like, but not really understand yet. In some cases, it seems to be the cats meow. I followed a guy on youtube for awhile, and watched as he was disabled like me, and he did powder coating in his garage for a second income. He actually started out just using a old electric kitchen oven. Was limited to the size of parts he could coat, but he was able to do a good job. After a year or two, he actually built a booth, and shared the plans to build it, and could powder coat axles and other larger items. Was 6' tall and you limited to what you can get in it. For some reason I am bias against powder coating .... for myself. I think it may do a good job today, but ten years down the road when you need to do some mods or welding etc ... just gets in the way. It actually may be a great part time employment opportunity for me or others.

Good job, I was lucky and was able to find the brass welch plugs here in town. What I read, is actually casting sand from when the blocks were made and left over ... surprising how much is in there. I dunno, may not be true. Then I read somewhere else, brass is bad? Actually steel plugs will rust, and is the weak link and need to be replaced from time to time. While brass will not rust, and in time because of dissimilar metals, the block will actually start to corrode ? The block becomes the weak link. I dunno, I read it on the internet so I know it must be true ? I doubt will happen in my lifetime, but thinking I may pull my brass plugs and replace with steel .... I need a hobby and stop thinking maybe?

point is, if it was a rebuild done in the vehicle, years ago, the block would not be cleaned. If it is something you just did last week, I assume the block was hot tanked.

gratz, first thing to remember, re-torque the head bolts. I do question/wonder about the rebuild though. Did you take it to the shop and have it done, or is it a engine that was rebuilt and you picked it up and using it? My engine ran hot when I first started it, after it sat for 20 plus years. I cleaned the water distribution tube, I pulled the welch plugs and cleaned the casting sand out of the engine block, currently is running with no T-stat installed. It runs at 160, 180 ... it will creep up to 190. As soon as I raise the idle it drops back to 160 ... it needs a T-stat installed. But all of my issues would have been solved, if the block was taken to a machine shop and hot tanked. So this is why I am asking, did a machine shop rebuild this block, or were you told is was rebuilt?

Thanks again PA, going to write that down and see if I can pick some up to have it on the shelf. Napa seems to do well with paint. I wont use it on the cab lights, but running into a black on black on black situation. I do need some choices for contrasting colors, and with a silver motor, that would fit elsewhere as well. Maybe shock mounts and a few interior pieces. Heater for example, Body of heater is going black, but have the face plate in primer and trying to think of a contrasting color to go on it. Argent silver just may be the color I am looking for.

That is a good idea, I could try that and see what I think. I am kinda stuck with gloss black body color, is the original color of the truck. It will be a 30 footer anyway you look at it ... unless you are young, may be a 50 footer. The things that I have been using a rattle can on, I choose semi gloss black. I like the way it looks. It just might be the right contrast of the after market lights mounted on the body? At least it is just paint on a driver, nothing to get excited about.