The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Startup after setting for years

Hey guys
I'm new and have a great new guy question.

I just picked up a 1949 3600 that hasn't been running for 2 years. It was running fine before it was stored. Anyone want to share advise on steps to take before trying to start? I'm planing on draining oil and coolant and cleaning and rebuilding the carb.

Should I pull and drain the gas tank and replace the lines? How does one clean a gas tank?

It's been setting for "only" two years? If that's the case and it was in good shape as in daily driver condition, then it may be an easy project. Hopefully the previous owner was running non-ethanol gas. If so, and the gas still smells like gasoline and not varnish.....then I'd put a charger on the battery. While it was charging check all the fluids and hoses. If they look good then when the battery was ready I'd spray a little starting fluid into the carb (actually I'd use gasoline to prime the carb but please know that can be dangerous) and see it it'd start.

The above assumes the engine rotates with no suggestion it's locked up. If one's a bit anal it's possible to spend a day running thru the old pull spark plugs/rotate engine while building checking oil pressure, check timing, clean and adjust points, change all fluids, drain fuel tank and add fresh fuel, then try to start.

I usually skip the above and do the minimum just to see if it'll start allowing for a diagnosis of the engine and drivetrain to see just what the next step is.

Good Luck,
Ron

Two years is nothing for these old beasts. Do as Ron has suggested. I bet it fires right up.

I was thinking I should probably clean out the gas tank or use gas out of a smaller can to fire it up.

Will I be able to successfully clean the tank or is it a waste of time and just buy a new one?

Thanks for your help.

Don

If it really concerns you, drain out whatever is in the tank now. Then refill with non-ethanol if you can find it. Unless you see a lot of rust or sediment in what you drain out don't worry about "cleaning" the tank before you start it. Make sure you have a filter in line before the carburetor.🛠

Read this to get some more idea's on what to do.
https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/spring_wake_up.html

Also, for non ethanol fuel in your area.
https://www.pure-gas.org/

Don

I had a '52 parked in my driveway which I had not started for 15 years. It ran great when I parked it. I put some new gas in the tank, cleaned the points, charged the battery, and it started and purred like a kitten as soon as gas made it to the carburetor.
If I did not know the history of this engine, I would not have gone that route however.

Don't run it from the gas tank yet. Suck from a gas can on ground. Change oil, squirt oil on valve train. You must look at the valve train first. They can be all rusty due to condensation. Then one squirt in each plug hole. Direct plumb a mechanical oil pressure gauge on the motor. Take wire off coil tower. Add a new fuel filter before fuel pump. Discard all old fuel filters. Leave plugs out and crank with starter and fresh battery a few short times.

Looks and sounds OK? Has a little pressure?
Install plugs and wires and start. Check pressure. Will smoke for a while and clear up. Doesn't hurt to be a little cautious. Drain and clean tank after the above great advice/procedures given by all.
Mix and match advice as you see fit. Drive and enjoy.
Sometimes buying a new gas tank is much easier. A new tank is peace of mind for sure. Much less work. Dirt can refloat after cleaning depending on the person cleaning, and cause endless problems in the line, the pump and the carb.

I was thinking along this line too. New tank is cheap insurance for "knowing it's not the tank". Old guy at Napa said put a little of this "red oil" down each spark plug hole and crank it over by hand a few times. ?

Some of the old motors are hard to turn over by hand, No good way to attach a wrench. Some use the fan belt. If the balancer/crank pulley has threaded holes you can put two bolts in part way and use them as a "spanner". Starter motor is fine. Plugs out either way.

Well today my truck was finally delivered. First look was good and bad. Frame looks good and I'm not going to mess with it. Body is better than it should be but has a few problems I may not be able to fix easy.

But when I checked the fluids. Oil looks like it was just changed. It has a new plugs, wires, dis cap and rotor. I changed to coil and dropped in a new battery. Turns over slow. Got one cylinder to fire but the carb levers choke and throttle sore mixed up. Will pull it tomorrow and rebuild.

All comments are welcome

Don

Well I got it started. Turns over slow but fires quickly and seems to be fine. No knocking sounds. The carb was rebuilt by the former so I ordered a new one. Not even going to mess with it. Breaks are next.

How do I know if the starter is dragging? Might just be a cable. The pos side looks bad at an exposed connection at the battery.

Drained the anti. Looked brand new. Flush looked like clean water. Prestone.

6 volt or 12? Six volt starters are slow but steady when everything is in tip top shape. It would be a good idea to clean every cable connection just to be sure.

Everything is very clean. New battery too. I haven't checked the connection at the starter yet though.

Many 6v systems have had their cables replaced with too small a guage batter cables (especially the ground cable/cables). 00 gauge is good - original gauge was 2. All connections/ends of pos/neg cables/straps should be shiney clean (and conductive copper grease should be used).

I'm replacing one of the cables with a large gage. If that doesn't improve starting I'm going in for a new starter.

Try checking the battery terminal voltage during cranking before beginning to swap parts. It's normal for a 6V battery to drop to 4 1/2 volts or slightly less while cranking the engine. One thing that gets neglected when diagnosing a slow crank condition is the ground circuit. I like to use a large-diameter, longer than standard ground cable and attach it directly to a bellhousing or starter attaching bolt, then use a smaller gauge ground strap to the body and/or frame for light and voltage regulator grounding. The starter is by far the heaviest current draw item, and a big ground cable attached very close to the starter housing is a big advantage for good cranking speed.
Jerry

If the engine seems to run OK, I would hold off on the new carb unless you know exactly what's wrong with this one. A "new" carb is likely to be a B from a commercial rebuilder and a hodge podge of mismatched parts. There's at least an outside chance the precious owner did it right, anyway.

Get the fuel tank cleaned and filter on, adjust valves, make sure you've got spark everywhere, set timing. Do all that and THEN mess with the carb (or don't).

I wrongly assumed I had a carb issue and wasted a lot of time and some money too.