Thread by @simko_bednarski, Well... here we go What we know: -It's sat for five years. [...]

Well... here we go

What we know:
-It's sat for five years. Strongly inclined to believe it was running before that.
-Engine cranks and turns over with a new battery
-Carburetor is *dry* (fuel pump?)
-I don't think I'm getting spark (points?)

I learned to wrench on 90s turbocharged Volvos. Help.

Not looking good for spark (if I’m doing this right—if that plug is on a good ground)

Time to go buy ignition points before work.

Time to go buy ignition points before work.

OK work calls. I have a fuel pump on order as well that should arrive by day's end. so:
-replace points
-pump out old gas
-Replace fuel pump

I poured some gas down the carb this morning and cranked. Nothing. So I think it’s fair to say I have both spark and fuel issues.

Wrenched for a few minutes while eating lunch. Replaced the old points:

With some new points and a net condenser

*new condenser. Just for kicks before heading in I figured, lemme twist the keys. Update:

Now I dumped a bunch of gas into the carburetor this morning so this doesn’t tell me anything about the health of the fueling system, it didn’t hold idle, and I’m not super thrilled about the smoke. But we are making progress.

Ok. Done with work, so back to truck. Now that spark is sorted, time to work on fuel. Got this new fuel filter, and I’m about to go pick up a new fuel pump

(If you don't know, engines need three things in the right proportion/at the right time to work: Air, Fuel, and Spark. Cylinder draws in the right combustible mix of A & F, the engine sparks it at the right time, fun ensues.)

(an engine will run if any of those are slightly off, but not if they are way off, and not if it only has two of the three. The truck fired after I replaced the points, (giving it spark) and forcefed it fuel, just pouring it in. Now I have to make sure it can get fuel on its own)

Ok we’re back at it today.

Today’s task: figure out why the carburetor had no fuel.

Sub-task: get as much of the old stale gas out of the tank as possible.

Update: pulled the fuel filter. Gas came freely out of the feed hose, which says good things about the pump. The old filter is heavy, and clogged.

New filter v. Old filter:

Side note: compared to working on my trusty Volvo—it’s like moving into a mansion after living in a studio apartment.

This is the solid mahogany desk of wrenching:

I mean there’s even a tool shelf:

Had a long conversation with my uncle just now. He’s a good and cautious mechanic who once successfully rebuilt a Porsche 912 engine in my grandpa’s dirt-floor basement. He cautions again messing too much with old fuel and suggests just running through the old gas.

I think I’m going to take a middle path—try to blow the debris out of the old filter to get a sense of what it is, and to pump a little bit of old gas out to get a look at it—is it discolored? Grainy? Etc.

Ok here’s what blew out of the filter. I can’t for the life of me get the siphon tube into the gas tank so we are just going to wing it.

Just kinda eyeballed the idle adjustment on the carb—I have no idea what I’m doing—and... TA DA! Idle!!

And because I have no impulse control, I figured, let’s check the transmission. IT MOVES!!!!

It’s not all gravy—the brakes are barely there, and the exhaust has a hole strategically placed to fill the cab with fumes. Fast idle seems way too fast and I have no idea what I’m doing with a carb. But guys—the truck runs.

Lunchtime. Then I’ll figure out where we’re going next.

Also—cannot forget the rudiments. New plugs new fluids. New plugs new fluids.

Putting off thinking about the brakes by wet sanding some mildew stains off the paint

Polishing/wetsanding update (man I really don’t want to think about those brakes)

Ok I haven’t looked at the brakes. I did wet-sand a few trouble spots, polish it and wax it though. So it might crash but it’ll look good doing it.

Jumped up and down in the bed a bunch with my kid this afternoon, both of us laughing a lot. Came out to sort the idle a before calling it a night. Still a total newbie with a carburetor adjustment, but this sounds better.

Losing the light. So tomorrow,
-oil
-plugs (interested you see what the old ones look like)
-figuring out how to flush the brakes without the gear to jack up a big truck (might have to give in and have a shop do it)

Now, a beer.

Good morning!

Here’s where we’re at today. Little things and big things.

There’s also a looming decision to be made—when to tag in a proper shop.

Some of these—particularly flushing the brake system—would be much easier with the truck up off the ground. But I’m in Virginia with my wife’s family and my trusty 6-ton jack and stands are a couple hundred miles north.

& honestly getting it towed to a shop and paying a few hours labor is likely not much more expensive a than buying a big jack I’m only going to use once. Plus I’d love a second set of eyes on, you know, *the brakes.* But I haven’t popped the master cylinder cover yet so we’ll see

First order of business today though is to firm up the engine:
-Pull the plugs and see what they tell me about the truck’s life so far
-Put in some new oil because there’s no way oil this old is as protective as it should be

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