The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop The old 216 roared to life after a long sleep

So, my son and I finnally fired up the old engine after over a year of owning the '52 with original 216.

I rebuilt the dizzy, and carb, new plug wires and feed fuel via gravity from a gas can sitting on the roof of cab. Before trying to fire her up, I added fresh oil (none in pan when purchased), spun up the oil pump with electric drill until oil running out of rocker arm return tube, made sure the engine was not seized (soaked cylinders for 6 months in liquid wrench and fogging oil)

Hot wired coil directly from 12v battery and she fired right up almost immediately. Blew a ton of rodent nesting/food remnants out the tail pipe, but settled into a nice idle immediately and ran very smoothly with no noticable bad noises. So, she will still get torn fully down and rebuilt, but at least I have a shot at a rebuildable engine. It was a good day for sure.

We have no idea how long the engine was dormant, but based on the condition of the overall truck when purchased, it has been a long time.

Current truck progress is front clip off and metal banged out straight. Need to finish sandblasting a get a coat of epoxy primer on the metal before filler work.

Just a suggestion- - - - -it's OK to apply a (thin) temporary prime coat after blasting to prevent surface rust, but be sure to grind back to bare metal before applying any type of body filler. Leave some pretty definite grinding scratches, 40 grit or so, to give the filler some "tooth" to grab onto. Filler applied over primer will lose its grip and fall off.
Jerry

If there was any old fuel at all in the old tank I hope you pulled and cleaned it before pouring fresh gas in. If not you might have a surprise the next time you start it.

I usually do grind back to bare metal when doing body filler. But, it is my understanding that the new gen of fillers work fine over epoxy primer. I will definatly rough up the surface first.

You got that right. You must have missed the part where I said: "feed fuel via gravity from a gas can sitting on the roof of cab" I even feed the fuel through an in-line filter. Using the original fuel tank never even crossed my mind. That thing scares me...no telling what is in there.

do you know of a reference say something like rebuilding a 216 for dummies that's a book I need before tackle that rebuild job. But seriously I have a 216 that needs rebuilding and I don't have a clue where to start.

get a shop manual, they are everywhere.

Isn't it a great feeling when you bring it back to life? I did the same thing with both of my 216s to check for knocks. This is just one of many rewards along the way!

I'm not sure how to spin the oil pump with an electric drill. I've got a 216 that's been dormant for years and I'm wanting to try to bring it back to life this next spring.

What's the exact procedure to spin the pump, please?

Take out dizzy, shove long flat blade screwdriver chucked to drill, squeeze trigger!

Turn it the same way the rotor goes. Instead of cutting down a screwdriver for the big flat blade, I just cut the end off of a knackered spade bit, because I'm cheap.

Yes the distributor shaft goes down to the oil pump. By taking out the dist. u are gaining access to the "notch" on the oil pump. Turning screwdriver with drill after stuck down hole and engaged into oil pump gives u oil circulation.

Also make sure the engine will spin over by hand. If not, remove spark plugs and soak pistons with Kroils or some other type of oil to free up rings.

Just an FYI, you spin the oil pump clockwise when viewed from top. It took longer than I thought for the pump to prime and send a steady stream of oil to the valvetrain.

DavidF: Congrats on firing up your truck! I'm currently working to get mine fired up for the first time. I bought it about a year ago and was told it sat for 5 to 10 years. So far I've replaced the oil pan gasket and cleaned the pan, replaced the fuel pump, ignition coil, got the exhaust temp valve un-stuck, added a new fuel line/filter, new plugs, and currenlty rebuilding the Rochester carb. That old fuel really maked a mess inside the carb. I'm looking forward to the big day of starting it up! PS. Post some pics!