The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine ID and slow starting

First of what I have.
1949 3800 dual rear wheels
The owners manual in glove box says "New Motor in May of 1964" There was a tag in the pages of the manual that leads me to believe it was a "crate" engine or whatever it would have been called then. It has about 50,000 miles since motor swap. Been mostly parked since 1972. In the mid 90's it was driven around a little.
The pad behind the dist. is stamped S1219P. I have looked at a few different engine sites and did not find anything with numbers close to this. I took the wire brush and screwdriver to the side of the block below the dist. and in front of it and could not find anything cast in it. I did this with the dist. removed to aid in vision and room to work. I have not found a site that has pictures where exactly i am looking. Most sites have close-ups of the numbers but they don't look much like my motor. I am thinking it is a 235 but would like more info if possible.

I finally got it running last week with the help of my buddy Speed. I also rebuilt the carb and set it. It is running off of a gas can till I can get a repacement tank. It is still 6 volt, new battery this spring.

Today we changed plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. We pulled the distributor out cleaned points and set gap. It appears the vacuum advance is working by the suck on the tube method. I didn't do the points as I am probably going to go with the Pertronix when funds allow. It cranks way longer than than I think it should before it starts. It runs smooth and drives good but the problem is it will not restart after warmed up.
We are thinking the 6 volt doesn't crank it fast enough? I finally put a 12 volt battery with jumper cables hooked to it on the cab floor. While cranking the starter I touched the jumper cable to the 12 volt and the starter speeds up and it starts pretty quick. I only did this a couple of times. I want to fix it right not cobble it along. Do you guys think it is a starter issue? Maybe worn out? Are these trucks known for having hot starting issues? There was another 6 volt battery installed on the drivers side but it was hooked up parallel to give 6 volts to the starter. I am thinking of buying another battery as funds allow and running all new cables but want some more opinions. Speed thinks I should just convert to 12 volts but I am not quite ready to do that just yet. The truck made 170,000 miles with 6 volts and will only probably see 1000 mile a year now.

I know a long post so a recap of ?s
Engine Serial # S1219P stamped behind dist.
What is it?
How do I get it to start hot like 180 degrees after running a while?

my six volt system has been working fine for the going on 30 years I have owned it. Did you at least file the points? I don't know about hot starting issues, mine starts very well when hot. Is the timing set correctly? Mine wasn't for a while and it didn't want to start very well.

are your cables large enough to carry the current the six volt starter needs?

do you have a good ground between the frame and the battery?

frame to the engine ?

Here are locations of codes, if it is a high-pressure truck engine.

Here are the locations of the codes, if it is a low pressure engine.


Consider what 51 ashton posted. Here is a check list of things to check in the starting system).

A marginal starting system will result in hard starting when the starter/engine is warm.

Yes filed the points
Going to reset the timing with a vacuum guage today. I read on here for a couple hours before posting last night.

I couldn't get the link to work for the low pressure engine but am pretty sure it is a high pressure engine.

I took a couple of pics of the area between dist. and road draft tube. Mine has a cast ridge in that area.
I am trying to get the pics to work.

just how do you check timing with a vacumm gauge?

I got it from a topic in this forum called "Setting timing with a vacuum guage" started by LONGBOX55

I didn't get a chance to try it today but hopefully tomorrow.

I read an article on this method, part of the procedure read "retard the timing a little, 1/2" or so" it seems pretty sketchy to me. 1/2" measured at what portion of what? wouldn't a timing light be more accurate, since it is indicating the actual timing? And since you are having these problems it seems you would want to make sure everything is close to "right" as possible.

Changed both battery cables to big welding lead and run the ground straight to the starter bolt. It starts much better now.
I also did the vacuum gauge to set timing and it runs better. While I had the starter off I found the ball in the flywheel and painted it white. At no time or any throttle position or dist. position do I see the ball in the timing window.

While the starter was off I cleaned the block and found the numbers for the date code.
CON 2 K293

So that means K equals Nov.
29 is the 29th of the month and
3 is the year 53 or 63.

I don't know how to tell the year.Also what does the CON 2 mean

edit
I had a timing light and never got the ball to come into the window let alone near the pointer. I did however get the arrow to come into the window and even near the pointer but it didn't run very good there.

you need to loosen the distributor and turn it till you get the ball lined up with the pointer, that is the proper timing, anything else isn't right. are you sure you have the timing light hooked up to the right wire? what arrow are you talking about? its a ball you need to find. there are some other marks but those are for valve timing or some other thing. Number one cylinder is the one on the radiator end of the engine, and unless you get the ball in the window it will never run right, you can fudge it a bit to get a little more advance, but getting the ball lined up with the pointer, is always a good bet. there may be some issue with a flywheel that isn't right some how, but barring that you need the ball to line up...

I am going with issues with the flywheel. Who knows what flywheel was used, correctly or not. Mine has a little arrow/triangle on the flywheel that points out to the teeth.

Yes I used the plug nearest the radiator. Yes I loosened the distributor bracket and turned the base not the part the vacuum advance moves. I also had the vacuum line unhooked and plugged off so I didn't have a vacuum leak. Its running good so I am going with that for now.

Now on to the Date Code
What year is it.

CON 2 K293

CON 2 ?
K November
29 29th of month
3 53 or 63 That is the big question
Thanks

I asked this question in my last post but it is on the bottom of the last page.

Post both date casting codes (head and block) and the engine serial number.
Post the head block casting codes.

Sometimes you have to look for physical characteristics of the engine, in order to figure the year (decade) code (3, in your case). Unfortunately some 1953 and 1963 engiines could be configured with the wrong head and they would look quite similasr. You will need other casting codes for definitive identification.

Does the valve cover have 2 or 4 mounting bolts/screws?

CON 2 means Conveyer 2

There were a variety of markings on flywheels used on low-pressure 216/235 engines and on 235/261 high pressure engines (cars and trucks).

just checking I've learned to take nothing for granted.

engine serial # posted ealier in this thread S1219P

I will have to wait till next week for days off to get the head numbers.

Valve cover has 4 mounting bolts

I know
I try to give as many details as possible but sometimes forget to type everything. I will try to get some pics to work this week while at work.