start-up after a long sit

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falconsprint63

Member
I'm working on a 24 T. it was fully restored then parked about 18 years ago after overheating in a parade.

we pulled the head and replaced the head gasket and put a new water pump on it. it's got good coil packs. we primed the cylinders with a gas/oil combo and can get it to fire and run what's inside out, but can't seem to get the gas to pull up from the carb.

any other suggestions? I'm pulling the carb from another car that's been run in the last 5 years to see if that helps but I'd appreciate any reccomendations. trying to get it up and running for a parade saturday.
 
Manifold gaskets would be my first guess.

It is a long shot but I recently removed a mouse nest from the manifold of a Waukesha engine that had been sitting since the 1950s, you might check for that as well.
 
Do you have a shop vac with an exhaust port? If so hook the hose up to blow pull a plug and hold the hose on the carb air inlet. In other words blow into the carb. Hand crank the engine and see if the air is getting through. It should when the cylinder intake valve opens. Nests don't usually go deep but if one's there you'll know. Of course gas flowing from the tank to the carb is a must. Open the drain on the carb to check that. Your needle valve should be open about 1 1/2 turns too. If closed it's no-go.
 
"after overheating in a parade" "put a new water pump on it"

Sounds like once you get it running you need to clean out the cooling system, and maybe even put in a new radiator. The thermosyphon system is designed to keep the proper operating temperature without a pump, which is why the car came from the factory without one. Over the years the water passages get full of crud and the radiator's fins vibrate loose from the tubes so it doesn't radiate anymore. That's why you see water pumps on T's.
 
don't know the compression, but it seems pretty good if you plug the hole with your finger and turn it over.

forgot to mention that I had the radiator flushed and pressure tested at the local shop and it looks good. block was fully rebuilt in the resto--I asume any buildup was tanked or otherwise removed then, but...

we think the overheating was a head gasket failure. the PO had the pump put on during the restoration. he was footing the bill for the parts when I started working on this project in the summer (the car belongs to the museum I run now) so I just went ahead and put the new one on to be on the saf"er" side. figured it couldn't hurt. didn't make the 4th parade so we're shooting for christmas parade.

appreciate all the thoughts/comments. the guy's long-time mechanic is working with me on this, but he hasn't touched a t since this one was parked (he know's a's like the back of his hand, though) so mining the latent knowlege is spotty. I'm guessing at 70 he's forgotten more about this thing than I'll ever know--but it's good to have him helping--heck somebody has to teach me to drive it :-)
 
Just checking - the gas in the tank isn't 18 years old, right? You've drained it and put in new fresh gas, and opened up and cleaned out the carb, right?
 
The only time I had a problem with over heating. Was when I had a water pump.
Every time I shut it off it would boil over. Took the pump off the problem was gone.
 
well there's good news and bad news here. spent the better part of today fiddling with the T. The good news is that we got her running and i learned to drive (more or less--I'm still a little fuzzy on the mechanics of low to high gear). The bad news is that the overheating problem is still very much there after all the work.

The fellow I'm working with seems to think the problem is with the rings. He thinks when the engine was rebuilt the rings were spec'd to modern standards rather than t book specs--he ran into that with another T that rebuilt here in town about the same time this one was done. unfortunately there's not really a way to verify that without pulling it down. so i guess we're now shooting for the parade on the 4th of july. I'll just drive my hot rod instead.

I will say that I've had the itch for a speedster for a while and driving the truck today just made it worse. once I figure out how to do it I'll post up the video I shot once we got it running.
 
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When it overheats is it hard to turn over by hand? If so I would agree with the possibility of too little end clearance on the rings or the pistons fitted too tight. If not, it still could be the water pump. They work to the most benefit if they are carefully fitted to a nail on the wall. The car is meant to run without a pump & at almost boiling temperature. A little steam at the rad cap is just fine.

The mechanics of the low -- high are simple. Pedal down tightens a band around a planetary gear set - low, pedal up engages a multiple disc clutch - direct drive (high). Half way up nothing is engaged giving you neutral - sort of.
It is exactly the same as a 2 speed automatic but you do the job of the servos, governors, etc.
 
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