I recently bought a '51 F1 at an auction nearby and was told it will crank over, but needs the fuel system checked out. I figured I'd clean the tank out, run new lines, filter and maybe rebuild the carb too. Anything else I should do or check before trying to crank it over? It was last registered in '01....so it hasn't been sitting 30 years but it's still a long time. Appreciate the help Steven Boschma
Check the oil is a good start. But why was it parked? If the motor is shot, I wouldn't go to the work to rebuild the carb just to find out that you can't use it. Make sure you get spark, check the oil, poor some gas down the carb, and if you can get it to run, go from there.
Never, and I mean never, start a flathead thats been sitting. Before pulling the pan, cleaning the pan and installing a new oil pickup screen. You'll save Yourself a lot of grief...
Pull all the plugs & see if the valves are operating & you might just see if there is coolant in the radiator. Squirt some MMO in each cylinder & run some in the fuel.
If you haven't done so already, goto http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4 and ask the same thing. You'll prolly get a lot more suggestions to choose from. Jack E/NJ
Pull the plugs, squirt some oil in the cylinders, check the compression, spin it with the starter with the plugs out till the oil pressure builds up while checking for good spark. Oh and dont forget to cross your fingers.
Before spending a ton of time and money. Change fluids. Oil/antifreeze. Compression check will tell you a little about the engine. 80 up is good with hopefully not more then 10lbs difference between any cylinder. Low compression could be rings, valve, or a need for a rebore. Rings and valves can loosen up after a few good runs if things are alright. You can Run a gravity tank to a good carb for a test also. Just to add a few ideas to the others posted.
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