The D30 is freed up, 50 years later

After evicting the mice and other unmentionable occupants, I moved on the other adventures with the D30 today. All I can say is, how much mouse nest can a D30 hold? about 2-3 big shop vac loads!

Amazingly, I got the old 232 in the D30 to break free today. I had put a mix of diesel, ATF, with a pinch of PB Blaster down each cylinder months ago, put the plugs back in, and walked away. 50 years ago the previous owner had tried repeatedly to free the engine by the drag with tractor and have the kid drop the clutch method... which never worked. I figured I wouldn't have an ants chance in ---- freeing it up but, here we are.

I pulled the dust shield off the clutch and used the flywheel teeth as a barring point, the first move was backward of engine rotation. Back and forth it freed up pretty quickly and then there was one spot that took and 45 minutes to work through. The flywheel would sort of spring back at that point, I just kept at it and then gave it the push through whatever it was. So I pulled the starter off and blew it out with compressed air, then I just put battery voltage to it, and it freed up. The starter drive is sticking so I'll need to clean it up or source another one.

I'm going to try to get the old 232 to make fire and lend a hand moving the truck around until the project can move into the shop which isn't quite built yet. I'll do some temporary wiring so I have a 12V battery, GM 12V coil/condenser, little electric fuel pump and other semi modern parts I have laying around can get it to run without spending any cash. The good news is that a loose or running HD232 will be available for someone to own in the foreseeable future.

I pulled the starter apart yesterday, cleaned up the commutator with emery cloth and a little oil got the gummy bendix freed up. With 12v it whips the old motor right over. Now to see if there is compression in a few holes and if so ill pick up a set of points.

I "built" a set of points today since I couldn't find an exact replacement part. I used the arm and spring from a set of BWD A40V points, I cut the little tube off of the frame that the arm pivots on and sleeved the inside of the arm to the right dimension, I had to reuse my old frame and fixed contact. They look identical to original and will functionally work for now.

I need some specs now for the old 232, I'm guessing the points are set with a feeler guage, rather than a dwell meter but, I need a spec.

Matter of fact i have no owners manual or any generic manuals that go back to 1940 at all, I don't have lube specs, capacities etc. Can anybody help?

so what happened , did it start ,,? I'm guessing .020 on the points should be good enough ,,clean out the oil pan ,,,??

I "built" a set of points today since I couldn't find an exact replacement part. I used the arm and spring from a set of BWD A40V points, I cut the little tube off of the frame that the arm pivots on and sleeved the inside of the arm to the right dimension, I had to reuse my old frame and fixed contact. They look identical to original and will functionally work for now.

I need some specs now for the old 232, I'm guessing the points are set with a feeler guage, rather than a dwell meter but, I need a spec.

Matter of fact i have no owners manual or any generic manuals that go back to 1940 at all, I don't have lube specs, capacities etc. Can anybody help?

You can set with a dwell meter 32 deg for a 6 cyl. the spec is so they spend as much time open as closed. or close to that.
used to be the thickness of a match book cover was a good approximation of what was needed.
dwell is a more accurate way to set points, esp one that have been in service for a while and are not smooth. It measures the electrical time open vs closed, which is in fact what is important, rather then the gap, which is just a way to approximate dwell.

The update:

Today I installed a new set of plugs, a 12v GM coil and condenser, a used set of 8mm taylor wires for a small block chevy that had laid around for years. I shot a few pumps of ATF in each cylinder before I put the plugs in gapped at .030". I shot some ether down the carb and gave it a spin... nothin. I discovered there was no spark, the spring for the points was grounding out inside the distributor, a bit of spark plug box provided the necessary insulation. So I ethered it up again and the strangest thing happened, I heard this boof, and white smoke appeared at the passengers side of the engine. Then it popped again out the exhaust, and the battery wore down. Some new mouse nest has appeared in the exhaust pipe that wasn't visible before. When I opened the carb while cranking I got a little blast of fire to greet me. The not so perfect events of combustion have started to take place for the first time in a very long time.

When I cleaned the cab out and tore out the remnants of the headliner I found an "OK INPECTION" tag dated 11/2/39. Interestingly this truck might be about to have one heck of a 75th birthday. Tomorrow, with a fresh battery and pre-atomized gasoline, I'm going to get serious about making the 232 revolve on its own with a little artificial combustion aid since we all know there's plenty else wrong that can't be found yet. I'm positive the valves and rings aren't in the best shape after being stuck for 45 years...but some good fire will burn that rust right out of there, it won't hurt anything that is for sure.

Maybe I'll get lucky and it will kick over on its own tomorrow. I only got $26 in making the engine run so I haven't got nothin to lose.

Thanks for the update , nothing better than bringing an old motor back to life .Please keep us posted .

Today I spent a little more time trying to get the engine to kick over on its own, all I ever got out of it was the occasional roll of white smoke out the exhaust on ether. It wouldn't pop on gas at all. So, I went to standard diagnostics and got out the compression tester. I had 1-3 all test 0 psi and I decided to stop the testing and look in the plug holes while the starter turned the motor. All the valves I could see stayed open all the time. I pulled the head off and found all the exhaust valves were stuck open. I started working them free but the front 3 cylinders were real stuck, then the head broke off the #1 exhaust valve and that ended the festivities for the day. I covered the engine with a plastic bag for the night and closed up the hood since it is supposed to rain tomorrow.

If I could find a head gasket somewhere and a couple used exhaust valves laying around I could probably patch this engine back together and make it run enough to move the truck before the snow flies. Surprisingly, the cylinders have cleaned themselves up nicely, a pile of rust sludge is on top each piston but the cylinder walls are smooth metal, I'm thinking the rings might have survived.

Anybody have some ok used exhaust valves laying around?

If it were me I would take the head off and get a can of kroil and take it apart and clean it up use coppercoat liberly on the old head gasket , and hope someone has some valves . You might try Tom Underwood , "Parts of The Past " in Kansas or maybe Outback parts if you can get a part number .

If it were me I would take the head off and get a can of kroil and take it apart and clean it up use coppercoat liberly on the old head gasket , and hope someone has some valves . You might try Tom Underwood , "Parts of The Past " in Kansas or maybe Outback parts if you can get a part number .

I already have the head off and I'm not sure what there is to take apart since the engine is a flathead. The head gasket is a victor composite gasket, i had to rough it up pretty good to get the head to work off the studs (there was nothing to pry on), so I doubt coppercoat will fix it. I did find a set of old aftermarket exhaust valves.