Starting Truck After 15 Years

[70 net440]

My son and I just got his truck on the road after it had sat for about 15 years.(Due to a bad set of points) We did all of the above to get it running, then did the following to get it road worthy.
New fuel tank (Old one was rusted through)
New fuel pump and rubber lines(Cleaned steel lines with carb cleaner and compressed air)
New power steering pump and hoses
New radiator and hoses
Replaced all brake components(master cyl., wheel cyl., hoses, shoes, etc.)
U-joints
Rebuilt carb.
Installed Pertronix conversion kit
Plugs, wires, cap, and rotor
And just for fun a 4" lift kit and some 33" tires
My son works at his Granpa's quick lube so he will be replacing the fluids next week. Good luck with your project.

[72armyswbtruck]

Oh you might want to add a can of the fuel stabilizer before starting the truck,
My opinion would be to disconnect the fuel line and try some gas connected to a gas can or just pour a little down the carb upon first fire up.

[engrdean]

Well, I am back after a long weekend of doing nothing but working on the truck. It now runs, drives, and stops, although it doesn't do any of those very well yet. The brakes need bled a few more times, the waterpump is grinding and making noise so I will need to replace it, and it still acts a little starved for fuel so I will probably replace the fuel pump and all the lines along with the filters once again.

We ended up following most of the advice you guys suggested, although we didn't prime the oil system (I know, after all the feedback, and I didn't even do it). We put new points in, squirted some marvel mystery oil into the cylinders through the spark plug holes, and cranked it over a few times by hand. We went ahead and disconnected the fuel line and just poured some fuel in the carb for the initial startup. As I said above, I was very VERY happy when it did, and no amount of smilies can truly express my feelings.

We cleaned the tank out with some diesel fuel and reconnected it along with a new fuel filter to the carb. Poured the rest of the marvel mystery oil into the oil and let it run for a while with the hopes it would loosen things up. Once we did that, we changed the oil, filled up the transmission fluid and took off. Well, kind of. We figured we would take her around the block, kind of a victory lap you know. Made it about halfway before she died. Pushed it about halfway back and then got it running again for long enough to get it home.

We also changed all the wheel cylinders, brake shoes, (4 wheel drum) and master cylinder. Took the old seat out which was barely there (not sure what sort of disaster happened to it), and cleaned the cab out. Oh, and made about 500 trips to the parts store in the process.

So, all in all, I consider it a very successful weekend, and an excellent way to start off the new year. Thanks again for all the great advice and I hope to see you on the road.

[engrdean]

1BadSS, thanks for the offer and I would probably take you up on it, but the truck is actually still at my parents house down in Springfield. My inlaws are supposed to be trailering it up here at some point (hopefully soon) as they are going to be trailering a firebird back with them.

I sold my father-in-law the firebird to finance the truck project. It was a '93 in pretty decent shape, and I have gotten more than a few odd looks when I tell people I sold it to buy a 40 year old farm truck. Some people just don't get it though. Anyways, we can always drive the firebird when we visit the inlaws and could probably buy it back someday if we so desired, so for now, we get some free storage

Joesjunk, I am actually in Grandview, just off of Main St. If you want to come by sometime and talk trucks, PM me, I think my wife is getting tired of hearing about it. I will get some pictures up as soon as I can, I took a few over the weekend but forgot the camera.

[heavychevy72]

pull coil wire off,then turn over that gets everything good and oiled up then put coil wire on and fire up after doing every thing else above,i've brought back alot of trucks,oldest 27 years old fired right up,the best freebee i've ever got