Heres another good tip, if the truck refuses to start as did at the station, get out and remove the air cleaner fairly quick. Open the throttle by hand while watching down the carb. If you see gas shoot in as you move the throttle, it is most likely flooded and only needs the throttle held wide open to start. If you see no fuel, you have a line, tank, filter, or pump problem. In January, it would be pretty rare to have vapor lock, not saying it can't happen, even in your climate its still cool. Moving the filter away from the heat source sure won't hurt a thing and having a clear one helps diagnosing problems. If its been damp out, you can get a ice build up in and around the carb which can shut off the fuel flow, thats why I said to move quickly to get under the hood. The ice melts off fast and if you mess around, you can miss it.
A faulty coil can cause heat related running and starting problems. As they heat up from use and motor heat, the spark gets weaker or quits altogether. After a cooling off period, they will work for awhile till the cycle starts again. I was working on a 400 Plymouth that refused to rev up as it heated up, it also refused to start if I shut it off. After 30 minutes, it would go again. Turned out the coil was bad, a new one solved all the problems.
If you cables are small they will heat up during cranking, a quick hand grab will tell you if you need bigger ones. I installed some 4-0 I had laying around on a '54 straight 8 6V Pontiac, replacing some much smaller ones, it spun much faster and made for really easy starts. 2-0 should be good about right. Head to the local welding supply house, cable might be cheaper and you can install new ends yourself for custom length if needed.
Joe
