Well, I got it to start! Turned out I had the distributor 180 degrees off (don't ask me how that happened.
All I did was re-position the wires on the cap (moved each one halfway around).
Rechecked my valve adjustment and timing, cranked it over and it fired right up!
Unfortunately it wouldn't run for more that a minute or so before it died. It acted like it wasn't getting gas. I could get it to keep going a bit by pumping the accelerator, but that was it.
Is it possible the carb is out of adjustment? It's a rebuilt Rochester from Jim Carter. At the moment I can't think of anything else, and I don't want to run this in fits and starts and mess up the cam.
Tim
I am currently digging back in to a 1953 3800 (one ton) with a nine foot bed. I've owned it since 1979, and drove it until 1982 (or so). My wife got me involved in restoring it back in 2002, got the body removed and the frame redone, then things came up. Now I am retired and starting again. If anyone is interested I have photos on Imagur (
https://timwhiteblues.imgur.com/ ). I live way back in the woods in the Ozarks on 40 acres at the end of a 2 1/2 mile private road.
Tim
