47-55.1 Looking for Advice on Upcoming 1950 Truck Project

[mr48chev]

Nice truck.

The best advice is that if it isn't broke don't fix it just to be fixing it.

First thing I would suggest is get a can of Marvel Mystery oil and put a few squirts in each cylinder and let it set for a while. That has been the go to squirt in cylinders of rigs that have been sitting and may be stuck for 60+years. ATF may work also but I have always used Marvel Mystery oil since 1962 when our auto shop instructor had us squirt it in an engine that had been sitting. As dsraven said, no matter what you use don't be stingy with it when you squirt it in the cylinders, The objective is to get it to soak down past the rings to free them up and while it will smoke it won't hurt anything if you can crank the engine over with the starter with the plugs out before you try to start it.

Still getting it running after you get it to turn over is a process of elimination.

First is never assume on anything, test it.

Does the battery have a full charge and show that with a test meter?

Are the battery cables in good condition with tight terminals and are every connection to what they connect to to clean bare and shiny metal? I've lost track of how many vehicles I have gone out to look at in the past 60 years where there were corroded connections, loose connections or the several times where the owner had put many coats of paint on the engine and refused to scrape the paint away to bare metal to make a ground contact.

Once it spins over with the starter good move on to the ignition.

Are all connections tight? Do the wires go where they should? Are the points adjusted correctly? I've helped more than one guy with a no start after working on it that set his point gap with the rubbing block on the flat part of the cam rather than the tip of a lobe.

Fuel, I'd say it goes without question rebuild the carb as it has been sitting for six years.
With my lack of luck with old gas I would pull the tank and flush it out. Old gas kills engines and the carbon from bad gas can lock the engine up. That may actually be the entire issue when one things of it. Drove the truck after it has sat since last season, parked it and the next day the carbon build up on the valves from the old pretty well turned to varnish gas locked up the valves and the engine in the process. I've had it happen and need to pull the heads off an engine in the next couple of weeks to check it now that the weather is a bit dryer. Since that truck is known to have sat for lengthy periods of time that may be the problem.

If I had access to one of those scopes that you can look in cylinders with I would check to see if I could see the valves with it. or pull the manifold assembly and look in the exhaust ports at the valves to see if they are full of black carbon.