1955 Willys Truck - First Project - Weak spark?

nwestwood

nwestwood

Gear Grinder
Jun 18, 2014
11
Utah
First Name
Neal
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1955
3 weeks ago I and my 16yr old son drove 3 hrs to an outlying town and bought this 1955 willys truck, said to be all origninal. We loaded it up and hauled it home. The starter was out and said to be bad. I had that rebuilt and we installed it. We replaced the battery, then flushed/bled all the brake lines. The engine was not turning (didn't even try the new starter). The guy I bought it from, got it from another person who rescued it from a dealer junk lot in 1980. I called that owner, he got it in running condition in 1980 and used it regularly till around 1986. He said there is a crack between to valves but it ran and thats the way he had it the whole time he owned it. Included in the sale was the spare engine you see in the bed. More on that in the pictures in the next post.

1-Ready for Pickup.jpg2-interior.jpg3-loaded.jpg4-home ready work.jpg5-Carb.jpg6-carb interior.jpg7-helpers.jpg8-Engine.jpg9-engine2.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 10-Engine TW6L-serial 226 106110.jpg
    10-Engine TW6L-serial 226 106110.jpg
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Here are more pictures. The import information is:
Motor Model #TW6L Motor #226 105110
Truck Serial Number 55268 208 3
Tag on top of the motor E226A50 686
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Spare motor was from an Airline baggage tractor, as I understand it Willys blocks came from the Continental block factory, this motor is a 12V Continental 226, but appears to be interchangable. I'm looking for anyone who knows about this. The continental serial number is visible in the pictures - FS244 6071 7777

If the blocks are interchangeable, I may rebuild the engine, using the super hurricane heads with the Continental block, Anyone have experience with this?


10-Engine TW6L-serial 226 106110.jpg10-serial 55268 208 3.jpg11-engine top E226A50 686.jpg12-front.jpg14-rear.jpg15-interior - dash.jpg13-spare motor -plaque.jpg

It appears to be the original 6V system, although turn signals have been added. It also has dual gas tanks, the original tank has an electric fuel pump added, but another tank mounted underneath about frame center, also feeds up to to a manual valve mounted on the inside right front fender. In addition to the creative exhaust system, which I will remove, a heavy duty bumper has been added, along with a side mounted tool box. I would like to restore this truck to factory original and am looking for advice as this is my first project of this kind
 
My first mistake was in removing the tires. As it turns out, 3 were right hand threaded, and 1 was left hand threaded (not discovered until I had twisted off 3 nuts.) Today we pulled it slowly with another vehicle with it in 1st gear, the first 2 times I disengaged the clutch the motor did not turn, but on the third it broke lose and began moving. (I had removed the spark plugs and squirted penetrating oil in each cylinder a week ago.) Once the pistons were moving freely, then we tried the starter, which worked.

Next I checked to see if we were getting spark, and did not see any. I downloaded some diagnostic steps and here is what I found:

Coil + to - resistance with everything disconnected - it was not constant, it would jump between 5 ohms and as high as 120, but mostly 5-20, and would not stay constant as I would expect.
Coil + to center - 5,500 ohms stable.

At first I did not get spark out the coil, but cleaning and reconnecting I managed to see/hear some spark - although I can't call it strong. Then reconnecting everything and checking for spark at the spark plugs, I see spark, but again it seems weak to me.

We tried starting, I only had a little starter fluid left, and it acted like it was trying to fire. I was out of starter fluid, and switched to squirting gas in the carburetor, and get nothing, it cranks but doesn't try to fire.

I will get a new can of starter fluid and give it another go, but with this information can anyone tell me if I'm getting the spark I should?

And please, anyone who has advice, please post. My immediate goal was to get it running, and drive it around for a few days, before moving it into the garage and stripping it down to the frame and working back up from there.
 
Welcome to the forum. That truck looks like a great family project. I've never seen bed storage boxes like that - very sweet.

Cheers,





Scramboleer AKA Dan
 
I replaced the coil, spark is stronger, it makes attempts at starting, but not enough. Rechecked every spark plug, 2 don't have spark despite cleaning, polishing, connectors, rotors, etc.

On further inspection, the rotor is clean, but wiggles a few degrees, I'm not sure even how to tighten it. The distributor points are rusty, even after cleaning, at a minimum It's going to have to be replaced.

Neal
 
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The rotor should be able to move a few degrees from the centrifugal advance mount.
After you get it running (you will !) what's important is does it have steady timing with a timing light. Timing bouncing back and forth indicates worn parts in the distributor.
 
Hi Neal

welcome to the forum. I can't help you much with your spark problem, but I do know the truck as I posted it for sale on the forum in behalf of the owner that you bought it from.
and it was only a few blocks from my house.
it looked like a good truck to restore not much rust, so I'll enjoy watching your progress.
where are you located in Utah?

Jeff
 
Hi good luck with the truck. You may have a stuck valve or 2, or bad plug wires. A little heat on the plugs will burn off all the fouled gas, and a wire brushing afterwards cleans them. Don't pour a lot of gas down the carb, as that fouls the plugs and the rings . Do all the cylinders have compression? And yes the Continental will bolt up to the Jeep. All you need to check is the front motor mount setup. Your industrial version may have a different front plate on it. Do both your motors have the distributor in the same place? Post edit: Hope you had jack stands under that front axle when you 2 were under it. safety first!!! diggerG
 
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Heat is good for cleaning plugs but if they get too hot the tip can crack, but not a big deal at $2 each. Wire brushing plugs is a nice way to put a bit of a coating of conductive steel (from the brush) on the porcelain. I did it a few times but found out to stop after the torch treatment. You may find it has little compression due to stuck rings, if the whole thing was stuck. I see little harm in trying to start it, but not everybody agrees with that.
 
Martin, you must know some real heating animals, Me and my neighbors have been heating up fouled plugs with torches for over 50 years, starting with the Model AA farm truck, never remember cracking plugs. We are all welders and or professional burners however. never thought about the wire brush's steel rubbing off though. We would pour a little gear oil into the cylinders of junkyard motors to build up the compression some to help them start. I also say give it a go. diggerG
 
If it were me, I would not be in quite such a hurry to start it. This thing has been sitting for awhile, and there's a good chance there are some hidden issues. They may get a lot worse if you start it. The mis-matched wheel lugs suggest a PO was casual about repair, to say the least. You might want to pull the head and oil pan, and take a good look around.....

It's interesting that the spare engine is a Continental. Might be worth $$$ to a collector. I know, for example, that certain brands of combines used Continental flathead sixes back in the fifties.
 
baby steps

I ordered a complete electronic distributor from willys america, along with a new coil, plugs and wires. It was easy to install. Right of the bat I noticed much better spark, however I still could not get it to start. Further trouble shooting showed that some of the valves were stuck, (looking in the spark plug hole you could see that they were not opening), so a couple of days with a large amount of penetrating oil and it seemed that I could see valves moving except in one cylinder that the original owner said had an issue, a crack between the valves.

Then as I tested each plug as I replaced it I noticed that the spark is inconsistent, it will seem to fire regularly then not fire at all, a couple of times it started to catch, but then would stop, and as I check the spark, it is not consistent.

With the coil, distributor, wires and plugs all replaced, it would seem to eliminate those. I thought I could jumper the coil directly to the positive terminal of the battery to bypass any key switch/ignition wiring issues, but that didn't seem to help.

Not sure where to go next.
 
Starting it is not the goal. Sorting out all the mechanical issues is the goal. When that is done, it _will_ start.

If some valves were not moving up and down when you cranked the engine over, you have a serious mechanical issue. There is a positive mechanical connection from the cam to the lifter and valve, and there's a good chance something is broke, to use the technical term.

Remove the cylinder head and the side cover over the valve assembly, and inspect carefully. Make sure all of the valves move up and down as they should. No point in trying to do anything else until the valves all work.
 
Alright, I'll make that the next project, remove the head and while I'm at it remove the oil pan and clean it as well. I did have plans to completely overhaul the engine when I had this truck stripped down to the frame, but really wanted to take it for a spin first. I might have to give up on the idea of a quick drive and just start from the ground up. But for now, I'll order a new head gasket and and pull the head to see whats happening inside, (then we can get back to spark issues).
 
Those Continental 6's have a tendancy to break head bolts right off, If you break one or more then your troubles will multiply. I'd try to start it some more, checking the compression first.If you have comp in all 6 then squirt some old oil in the cylinders , spin it over some, put the plugs back in and then use ether. Those head bolts loosen a lot better if the engine is hot.
diggerG
 
I don't doubt diggerG's expertise w.r.t. Continental engines, and I agree that broken bolts are a problem. It might be a good time to soak the old girl in Kroil penetrating oil, and being working the bolts ever so slightly. By that I mean but a good six-point socket on them, and turn, or at least strain, in the unloosen direction. If it moves, STOP. Turn it back the other way. Do this repeatedly until the bolts come out.

A broken bolt is a PITA, I agree, but it's fixable. A block with a hold punched in the side is not......
 
Been awhile since I've posted. We pulled the head, 1 head bolt was already broken and just sitting lose. At 2 valves are stuck, I tracked down the owner that had it running, he claims there is crack between two valves in one of the cylinders, if so, its probably not repairable. After some other distractions we got the spare motor on a motor stand, and are in the process of pulling the original motor. At the moment we are stalled out, figuring out how to unbolt the transmission from the cross member so it can come out with the motor.

We are going to send both motors to a local recommended machine shop that has worked on these types before, if they can rebuild the original (as in, there is not a crack between valves) we will do that. If the original block is shot, we will rebuild the Continental block, using everything else from the original motor, Head bolt patterns are the same, rotor in the same spot, minor differences (oil pans are different, but same bolt pattern, front mounts different, but again looks like same bolt pattern so everything should transfer.

And now that fenders are coming off, we will just keep going and get down the the frame and do it right.15-1 Continential.jpg15-2 Engine.jpg
 
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