Start up after 5 year set

[ridgerunner]

Hi guys..I am a newbie so please cut me some slack for DUMB. My wife's 1951 M-37 has set for 5 years without starting. We thought it would be fun to get it going this summer for the grand kids. I pulled the spark plugs, poured in some Marvel Mystery oil, replaced the batteries, jury rigged a temp. gas tank until we can flush out the truck tank, and turned that puppy over. No go.......no spark, I figured it was points, corrosion in the distributor, loose wires, Etc. in the distributor unit. My size 13 hands can't even get a wrench on the small bolt that locks the Dist. down but my wife was able to get it out. Now I can't pull the distributor unit all the way out, it comes part way and seems to hang up on something underneath of the unit, My question is???? how do you pull the distributor unit??? what to look for when I do??? What about these electronic units, installation Etc???? Any advise is helpful. We live up here in Maine and I don't twitter or tweet or whatever, I can barely drive this computer. Blackberries are one of our major food groups and face books are grandmas picture albums. In other words don't be to technical, I ain't got that much learnin'.

[cuz]

You're gonna need at least enough learn'n to get #1 TDC on compression and set at the correct timing mark on the front of the engine when you get ready to put her back in. If'n you don't have this much learn'n then best hire it out.

It has two screws in the hold down bracket. One clamps the shaft tight so it won't turn after you set the timing and the other holds the thing in the block. If you undid the clamp bolt then you are where you are now. The other bolt is upside down and goes up into the bottom of the distributor housing thru the hold down plate. Correction the upside down bolt is the pinch bolt and the right side up bolt is the distributor to block retention bolt. If you have removed the upside down pinch bolt then the distributor has a tendency to catch on the plate that is still bolted to the block.

Also I would remind you that the electronic upgrades offered are point replacements only. This does no more than save you the bother of cleaning, adjusting, or replacing points periodically. No one has documented any engine performance increase with this alteration. Many will argue that the labor savings is also a performance gain but that is what lawyers do when they mince the words and try to bend your opinion. FULL ELECTRONIC conversions will include high performance coils, engine operating parameters sensors and a computer to tie it all together.

[powerwagontim]

Welcome aboard Ridgerunner,
The only dumb question is the one you are afraid to ask, for fear of being thought dumb! Pretty good group of guys here and gobs of knowledge.
Where in Maine are you located?
Tim

[MSeriesRebuild]

Hi guys..I am a newbie so please cut me some slack for DUMB. My wife's 1951 M-37 has set for 5 years without starting. We thought it would be fun to get it going this summer for the grand kids. I pulled the spark plugs, poured in some Marvel Mystery oil, replaced the batteries, jury rigged a temp. gas tank until we can flush out the truck tank, and turned that puppy over. No go.......no spark, I figured it was points, corrosion in the distributor, loose wires, Etc. in the distributor unit. My size 13 hands can't even get a wrench on the small bolt that locks the Dist. down but my wife was able to get it out. Now I can't pull the distributor unit all the way out, it comes part way and seems to hang up on something underneath of the unit, My question is???? how do you pull the distributor unit??? what to look for when I do??? What about these electronic units, installation Etc???? Any advise is helpful. We live up here in Maine and I don't twitter or tweet or whatever, I can barely drive this computer. Blackberries are one of our major food groups and face books are grandmas picture albums. In other words don't be to technical, I ain't got that much learnin'.

All you need to do is disconnect the wires, remove the 1/4" bolt that secures the bracket to the engine block and pull the entire distributor STRAIGHT out. It is not necessary to remove the bracket bolt from the underside of the housing in order to pull the unit from the block. Fell free to give us a call at M Series, I'll be glad to guide you through any phase of troubleshooting, diagnosis, adjustment, and installation for the original system, or the all electronic upgrade.

[ZGjethro]

I recently sent my carb and distributor to M-series rebuild. I had the carb refurbished and had the electronic ignition module installed in the distributor. Since I had both services done, I cannot say which helped the most but my truck runs great now. I also put in new plugs and wires.

I am at 8000' in elevation. I ran into my high school auto shop teacher the other day and told him about my truck. He is not very familiar with the truck but he recommended I try 8-10 degrees before tdc for timing. Has anyone ran this much advance?

[ridgerunner]

Thanks for all the help guys. I actually do have enough learn'in to have all the necessary manuals but they are "up to camp" as we say in Maine. That is where the truck is eventually bound. When I get the distributor out I probably will ship if off for the electronic update. We live in Edgecomb, Maine and camp is in Monson, Maine. I have driven the truck the 125 miles 3 times with just one small problem with overheating. Thanks again for the time.

[Cal_Gary]

Welcome aboard, Ridgerunner! Keep working on it-you'll be glad you did!
Gary

[hbb]

There might be varnish build up on the distributor shaft keeping it from coming out all of the way.
With the distributor cap removed and set out of the way remove the cooling lines and disconnect the power lead grab the distributor and work it back and forth while pulling on it, then spray some WD40 on the shaft with the hose on the can under the distributor so it can work on the varnish and work it some more! it will come out.
hb