The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Bought a 1960 Apache..YEA! I'm #2 owner, now...

Now I have to figure out why it won't run, old guy parked it in 91 and it ran then, has a lot of surface dust on the engine, I will clean out the tank and fule line, it cranks over ok enough but will not fire, I'm thinking a distributor rebuild, plugs and wires. Do you guys have any other suggestions? The truck is pretty nice for my standards, needs bed rails and wood, hood hinges,fenders, door window guts, column shift put back together, a seat. It's green...again, I always get green trucks lol I have the origonal title and california plates, it's listed as commercial and has the commercial oil bath air filter on it..I'm so happy!

What shape is the radiator cap in?

Cleaning the fuel system and the changing the oil is a good first step. But, before pulling all the electronics out, I would clean and gap the plugs and try to fire up by spraying starter fluid or a little gas through the carb. If it fires try hooking a temporary gas line to a portable gas container and see how it runs over a few minutes. That'll give you an ideqa of how the engine will run. Than go from there on replacement parts.

Right on Todd! You need to post some pictures of this one. Oh wait, so do I, ha ha...Mine is sort of the same predicament, only has had 2300 miles put on it since 1987, but it does run fairly well and drives awesome. I should probably drain the tank though and clean it out.

Wow! Sitting since 91.......that's a long rest! The carb, and fuel pump will certainly need attention! Take your time, and don't rush it. Change the oil #1. Rebuild the carb #2. If you want to chance trying it after that, make sure you put an in-line filter between the fuel pump and the carb to prevent debris from getting in your clean carb......personally, I would just replace the fuel pump before you even go any further. They have diaphrams in them that dry out over time. They are easy to find on the net, and cheap. After that, I would then move on to the tank. These tanks have a filter inside of them on the sending unit, and they gum up badly after sitting for that long. Take the tank right out and empty the crap that's in there into an old can or something, and flush it several times. You will want to take the whole sending unit out also, and determine its condition. Clean or replace that, and reassemble, with new fuel lines if needed. I like to put an in-line filter between the tank and the fuel pump myself, but that is probably over-kill. THEN you are ready to try to fire it up! Prime the carb with a SMALL bit of fuel and try it. If it still doesn't fire (it will take some time to get fuel up to the bowl) then you will have to clean the points, etc., which will probably need to be freshened up as well, eventually. Good luck! It's always fun to bring an old beast back to life.

OK thank you guys for all the tips on bringing her back to life I will follow all of them, any tips on the cooling system other than a rince out and fill? I have not checked thae radiator cap but I was thinking on just getting a low pressure new one.

Got the seat out yesterday and found theres some pinhole rust spots in the roof (dripping on the floorboard-raining), guess my next project is to seal those untill I can get it taken care of properly, dosen't look so bad with the trashed seat out it was down to the springs in several spots and had a nats nest in it and possibly mice or at least it did at one time, the floorboards are nice looking under the seat,still has grey paint on most of it.

On the cooling system, I would pull the thermostat housing for cleaning. Flush the system without the thermostat in place. If mice have gotten into it, the thermostat may be (or get) clogged when you start the engine. The water pump is something you may want to keep an eye on and don't be surprised if it takes a crap shortly after you have run it a while.

I usually put a couple of quarts of Dextron II in the engine in place of a couple of quarts of engine oil to help clean and soften and lube seals. I don't drive it with that oil in it though. I change the oil again shortly after (maybe 30 minutes of run time) I get it running.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Builder

I second the Fuel Pump replacement. I bought a new one for 35-40 bucks at the local auto parts store for my 65' and it made a world of difference. Good luck, would love to see some pics of your truck. Take care. - Will

Good call on the thurmostat, I'll just get a new one, I forgot about that little headache I'll keep an eye on the water pump also. I have pics but not uploaded yet so I can send them, but soon, very soon. On the Dextron II I usually use.....uggh I can't remember, the stuff truckers put in thier engines to keep the seals and gaskets working.

I tried to get my photos up on one of those web site blablabla and no luck my computor is too old, then I tried to send the photos to the curator@stovebolt and it was sent back Mailor Damon so no pics I guess

Looks like that might be what I have to do with mine...change the fuel pump. I replaced the plugs and wires (gapped plugs) replaced the carb, and set the timing up perfect, and put in some fresh fuel. It idles pretty nice but hesitates and backfires out the carb when revved. Changing the fuel pump and filter will be ny next attempt. Thanks to you guys who suggested it.