I got my old '75 running tonight

[Greybeard]

Some background; I got the truck about ten years or more ago, I took the broken big block out of it, built a healthy 355 engine to put back in it, took the 203 and t350 out and put a SM465 with 205 back in. Almost everything in the engine, on the engine, and in front of the engine was new or rebuilt. It has Rhoades lifters, Scorpion roller rockers, TRW pistons, World product heads, and loads of other go fast goodies which I can't remember. It was balanced to a knats arse, align bored, and generally well taken of care of for a street engine build.
Then it was parked, and has been parked for years. I was starting it about three times a summer and driving it around the sections to keep it in some kind of shape. About three years ago I stopped starting it at all. Tonight I started it. The gas is about five years old,the fuel filter was dry it's been sitting so long. I used an ignition bypass button on the solenoid to spin it until the fuel bowl was full. Oil pressure came up instantly. it sputtered, and coughed and wouldn't idle over about 500 for a couple of minutes.

This is it struggling to run on the crap that is in the tank...



This is after about three minutes of idling and playing with the foot feed...

 

I noticed that the phone picks up sounds I can't hear when it's running. It makes a sound like it's falling apart. I assure you it doesn't sound like that in person. The lifter noise is normal for Rhoades lifters because they bleed down at low rpm's which helps smooth out a tall cam and helps it develop more vacuum at idle. However, there is a tinking noise when I was in the cab that I don't remember being there before. 

But it's alive. I drove it down the road about 1/2 mile but didn't go very fast because it needed air in tires and I wanted to make sure everything was going stay firmly attached to the truck. It was about dark when I got it running anyway which is why the video quality was bad.

[Irish_Alley]

i dont care what condition a trucks in. there's something about a truck thats been sitting for years and all you have to do is replace the battery and she fires up. that right there puts a smile on my face, try to do that with a new car lol yeah right.

[LTZ C20]

That's very cool! I agree with Irish. My truck has been sitting for months since I broke the old trans with the new engine. Tried to start it last week. Would not stay running for crap. Longest it ran was prob 2 min. Gotta play with it some more. I should have started it about once a week while it was sitting for 4 months. It's a brand new engine and I miss it sooooo much. Can't wait to start driving her again soon. New engine, new trans and new driveline.

[Dan75k20]

That is awesome that it is alive again

[Greybeard]

Update- It's running much better with the old gas but still not like it should be. I drove it around for about five miles yesterday and by the time I got home it was taking gas easier. It's still hard to start however. It turned over until the battery was almost dead and didn't even cough. I recharged the battery and tried again and this time it ran on the starter for about 15 seconds before it would run on it's own. So far I've used just over 1/4 tank of fuel driving the less than six miles and idling.    I need to keep burning the fuel up in it so I can pour in some fresh fuel. I don't see a need to mixing it.

I sprayed out the cab with hot water and scrubbed the dash with a bucket brush before I drove it around for the five miles. It was like old times when I used to do a lot river running. Barefooted with no floor covering, water dripping out from under the dash on my legs, a wet seat, and the smell of water on the exhaust system! AWESOME! Only no river.

I polished the steering wheel chrome, the old Sun tach bezel, scrubbed and armor-alled the dash plastic, and started to rub out the paint. Slow going because it's time to do hay. But the interior looks a bit better now anyway.

Still have to install these>>

[Greybeard]

Another update- I poured about 3/4 of a 16ounce bottle of sea foam in the tank that was showing less than 1/4. I drove it another five miles or so to get the sea foam into the carb. I tried getting the rear two opened but not sure if I did. I know it would not take fuel past 5 grand. That was two days ago. I haven't had time to do anything with it since. I'll let the sea foam work and if doesn't eat the goo out of it I'll be forced to take the bowls off. I am a little worried because I don't have any fresh gaskets for the bowls and can't afford any for now.

On a different note, I finally got to use the welder I bought in February (Hobart Handler 140).  It welds pretty good, it has a nice soft arc. I was so used to the bigazz Miller wirefeed at work that couldn't be dialed down enough so it would barely weld 1/4 steel that this one was a dream on 1/4". Of course the penetration wasn't that good but I think it should hold up since I was able to weld both sides and grind one side smooth. What had me puzzled was the chart inside recommended 5/50. Obviously 5 was necessary for the heat but 50 seemed WAY too fasst. I ran about 25 and just lingered in one spot a bit longer than needed to fill the puddle. I'm no expert by any means but even at 35 the puddle ended up looking like it was just sitting up on top. BTW- I was using the 0.30 fluxcore that came with it. I was working outside and didn't see a need to waste the little bottle of gas. I understand I could of had better penetration had I used the gas though.