43 flat head start-up

[32forddump]

Hello. I purchased a 43 Ford ton 1/2 truck that was a fire engine for the Neponset Air Base in R.I. The truck has 20,000 miles on it and in very good condition. I turned the engine over by hand and don't see much compression I pulled intake and the valves are moving as they should. I put mystery oil in the cyllinders figuring that maybe some of the rings are stuck. I am considering throwing intake back on and carburetor and throwing some gas in it and seeing if it will fire. Any suggestions?

[Bruce in southern OH]

Change oil, change oil filter, mmo oil, automatic transmission fluid and motor oil all in cylinders, cover spark plug holes with paper towels. Crank over engine( both to lube cylinders and also fill oil system back up with good oil ), refill cylinders with oil, crank over engine, let it set if you have time( with oil in cylinders). Remove distributor and have someone check points and complete distributor, check fuel pump, use another source of gas tank like lawn mower tank and hose to fuel pump. Take carb off and put fuel in carb and see if it pumps gas. Clean plugs in blast cabinet. Fresh charged battery. Clean battery cable ends. Volt meter to check voltage at on - off switch, good strong 6.2 volts. After I did this on two cars that set for 30 plus years they started with about two turns of engine.

[Ralph Moore]

Like to see some pictures of the fire truck if possible,
Thanks,
Ralph

[chap52]

Make sure your gas is fresh and clean. You don't want to create any new problems. I would remove the fuel line and turn the engine over to determine the quality and flow of fuel. You've already oiled the cylinders so they should be good to go. Pull a plug wire and see if you can arc a spark to a head bolt. As Bruce said change the oil and filter before trying to start it up.
Keep us posted.

[32forddump]

Well I poured trans. oil in the valve passage ways on the flat head and turned it over slowly and now iam letting it soak in and hopefully it will help the rings return to form and I will get the compression back. The engine was out and the truck was mostly all taken apart when I bought the truck so I have the engine on a stand and I have frame all sand blasted and cleaned up to paint. I own a rotisserie so it make this work so much easier. I will send some pics real soon.

[KiWinUS]

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Keep in mind that fire trucks do not see many miles but the engine could have many many hours on it & have been rebuilt or worked on many times in its life from running the pump on the fire truck . Great advice from Bruce & others here . It may run like a top !
Good Luck !
Cheers
Tony

[tubman]

Tony is correct on miles vs. hours. My '48 Seagrave had an hour meter on the pump operators console; maybe yours does as well. As I remember, my truck had 2300 miles and 450 hours when I got it. When I had boats with hour meters, we figured a SBC would go 800 to 1000 hours. (BBC's were much less because they generally got beat on pretty hard.)

[40 Deluxe]

In addition to Kiwi's point about the hours running the pumps, it also likely sat idling a lot, which can create a lot of sludge. When an engine sits for a long time, this sludge dries out, becomes flaky and pieces can come loose and plug the oil pump screen. I once bought a '90 F150 that had sat for about a year and half; had no oil pressure. Screen was plugged for this reason (evidently prior owner was careless about maintenance).
Also, ignition points get a film of corrosion after sitting and won't make contact. Do not just put fresh gas in the tank! It will have a layer of varnish-like goo on the bottom from dried gas. Fresh gas, especially with ethanol, will dissolve this stuff, which does not burn well and deposits on the exhaust valve stems, and they will stick! I have seen several engines that run great when first started after years of sitting. Soon they start missing due to sticking exhaust valves. Its about impossible to get this stuff off the valves without taking the engine apart! I've fought this with my '40 since my Dad gave it to me. It had sat for 23 years when he found it and he put only 3,000 miles on in the next 20 years. He had the engine rebuilt just before I got it, but it has stuck valves. I have soaked it with MMO, force fed it MMO down the carb, ran MMO and Seafoam in the fuel, even pulled the intake and soaked the valve stems from the bottom. All this after installing a new tank. It's coming completely apart this winter to clean the varnish off the valves. Less than a thousand miles on the rebuild.

[slowforty]

Try soaking with a 50/50 acetone and automatic transmission fluid mix

[supereal]

Be extra cautious about the use of acetone. It is extremely flammable and explosive. A man in our city was using it to clean up flooring, and a light switch set it off. He had severe burns, and the house was heavily damaged.

[32forddump]

Thanks for all your advice. I hate to pull the oil pan but if you think I should I will. I thought about putting kerosene in the pan once I got it to fire just to clean it out. Run it for 30 seconds then drain. I will mix the acetone with the trans oil, that's a good idea. No rush on engine so I will let it soak for a while.

[32forddump]

here are some pictures of the engine and frame and cab of the 43 Ford turn a half

[Mike51Merc]

Cranking it by hand won't give you a good indication of compression. Remember these are basically the same low compression engines that could be started with hand cranks in the early days.

Get a compression tester and crank it with the starter motor. Pull out all the sparkplugs and hold the throttle open while cranking.

[32forddump]

Thanks for the heads up.. I was about to pull the heads or pan.

[Ross F-1]

What does the valve galley look like? Much sludge?

[32forddump]

Valve galley was not bad. Not much sludge at all. I tipped block upside down and cleaned it all out. I put starter on today and it looks like I have descent compression. The person I bought it from had the oil pan off and removed the gasket. I am removing oil pan and will inspect the lower end tomorrow. Any suggestions on what I should look for?

[32forddump]

Where is the best place to get a gasket set for this engine?

[alanwoodieman]

Best Gaskets, Early Ford V8 sales or other Ford parts dealers, as for what to look for, be sure the oil pump screen is clean-old oil tends to sludge them up and check for clearances with plastigauge on bearings, remember rod bearings are double floating

[Mike51Merc]

Wiggle each connecting rod by hand and see if any move too much. Any click-clack here will translate to a rod knock when running. Look for burn marks or discoloration.

You can pull the end caps and inspect bearings for wear.

Check the oil screen for clogging.

[32forddump]

What does double floating mean?