- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I have a problem.... I see a neat, old Flatty that hasn't ran in years and I get excited. I fall in love with what could be and only see the potential.
The current distraction is a 1953 Willys CJ3B.... with a Ford Flathead V8! I hauled it home yesterday. It hasn't ran in 20 years, has been sitting out in a field. The steering column was removed because the gear box needed rebuilt. The rebuild was done, but it was never reinstalled. The body is actually decent, the frame looks great, the seats need work, etc, etc.
I hauled it home from an hour away with the Gladiator. I'm impressed with how well that thing tows for a lightweight 1/2 ton. The 3B towed just fine. I've always thought the 3B's were unsightly, but a friend has one and they've been growing on my lately.
Once it was home, I cleaned the trash out of it, shop vac'd the interior and pressure washed it real good. Then I started on getting it to run, I replaced the plugs, dumping a little Marvel Mystery Oil down the cyl to help break the piston & rings free. I picked up a new battery and installed it ( 6 Volt, positive ground system!! ), then changed out the old oil. I could get it to crank over slowly, but after plenty of cranking and starting fluid, it wasn't ever trying to fire. I checked the spark at the coil and.... nothing. I ran to the parts store for a new coil and once back to the 3B, I decided to check out the points. The distributor cap, rotor and points all looked pretty clean.... almost new inside. I pulled the points apart and cleaned up the contacts, just in case.
After that, it was hitting on one or 2 cyls with pouring gas down the carb.... I had my wife come run the wire to jump the starter solonoid (it's under the dash, ignition switch isn't working) and after a few tries it started running on 5-6 cyls. After about 15 seconds of spraying with starting fluid, the electric pump started picking up fresh gas and pumping it to the carb!! The thing evened out, started firing on all 8 cyls and even idled smoothly!
Now I need to install a new ignition switch, get it to crank from the key.... install the steering column and gear box, air up the tires, see how bad the brakes are and perhaps just drive it around my property in 4 low.... since I might not have brakes.
The current distraction is a 1953 Willys CJ3B.... with a Ford Flathead V8! I hauled it home yesterday. It hasn't ran in 20 years, has been sitting out in a field. The steering column was removed because the gear box needed rebuilt. The rebuild was done, but it was never reinstalled. The body is actually decent, the frame looks great, the seats need work, etc, etc.
I hauled it home from an hour away with the Gladiator. I'm impressed with how well that thing tows for a lightweight 1/2 ton. The 3B towed just fine. I've always thought the 3B's were unsightly, but a friend has one and they've been growing on my lately.
Once it was home, I cleaned the trash out of it, shop vac'd the interior and pressure washed it real good. Then I started on getting it to run, I replaced the plugs, dumping a little Marvel Mystery Oil down the cyl to help break the piston & rings free. I picked up a new battery and installed it ( 6 Volt, positive ground system!! ), then changed out the old oil. I could get it to crank over slowly, but after plenty of cranking and starting fluid, it wasn't ever trying to fire. I checked the spark at the coil and.... nothing. I ran to the parts store for a new coil and once back to the 3B, I decided to check out the points. The distributor cap, rotor and points all looked pretty clean.... almost new inside. I pulled the points apart and cleaned up the contacts, just in case.
After that, it was hitting on one or 2 cyls with pouring gas down the carb.... I had my wife come run the wire to jump the starter solonoid (it's under the dash, ignition switch isn't working) and after a few tries it started running on 5-6 cyls. After about 15 seconds of spraying with starting fluid, the electric pump started picking up fresh gas and pumping it to the carb!! The thing evened out, started firing on all 8 cyls and even idled smoothly!
Now I need to install a new ignition switch, get it to crank from the key.... install the steering column and gear box, air up the tires, see how bad the brakes are and perhaps just drive it around my property in 4 low.... since I might not have brakes.
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