Hi,
I just got this 56 f350 a few months ago and I've been taking my time in getting it to run, the engine has about 30k miles on it, I've changed the oil and put a spin on filter adapter on it, changed the plugs, new plug wires, cap and rotor. I got it to start for a minute once but It turns over so very slowly that I couldn't get it to start again so I installed new battery cables, solenoid and starter wires (which it needed anyway) and it still turned over slowly and wouldn't start so I retarded the distributor and got it to fire and run for a few minutes but after shutting it down it has a hard time starting again. I think it's strange that I had to turn the distributor probably 2 inches before I was able to get it to start this time. I'm going to reground the engine to the frame to see if that helps but I was hoping someone has gone through this and may offer some helpful tips.

Thanks, Erik

 

I would start by removing the plugs and see if the motor will spin easy then. If it dose , then there is a chance that the timing is off and will need be checked while the plugs are still out. If it shows the timing off you might have a chain that has jumped a tooth on the gears , or just need to pull the valve cover off and get the #1 piston at TDC and restab the distributor as it is out of time and needs to be moved for the timing of everything to be correct.

 

Welcome perik56. Good and better luck with your Truck. Try to get your distributor back to it's basic timing position. Rotate the engine by hand to align the timing marks with TDC or the amount of degrees BTDC. With dist cap off see that the rotor is pointing to the #1 plug wire terminal in the cap and if you rotate the dist to where the points are just opening, You should be in a position where it will run. If the rotor is 180 degrees from the #1 wire, turn the engine one more complete revolution.

Other things, you may have a badly worn starter motor and instead of cranking effortlessly the starter can drag and draw you battery voltage so low, that the ignition system can't fire the plugs properly.

You did not mention if you replaced the points and condenser and gaped properly??? Around 54/55/56 ford went over to a 12 volt system, is your truck 12 volts??
What about Your Battery, is it new?? Has it been load tested to make sure it is in great shape. There are a number of things that cause hard starting, just need to check all out to have all up to snuff.

You Say 30 thousand miles on it?? you know it's history?? Been rebuilt ?? Another thing to consider, does it have a badly worn timing chain and gears and could possibly jumped a tooth or two.

Cap

 

Thanks for the suggestions. The engine has not been rebuilt and doesn't look like it had the best maintenance. It is 12 volts with a new battery and I did replace the old points with a Pertronix ignitor and new coil. I can get the truck to run but it just has such a hard time starting and I thought it was odd that I had to turn the distributor as far as I did to get it to fire. 30k miles didn't seem like a lot to me but this is my first Y block and maybe the timing chain has skipped? I guess the next thing is to pull the starter and see what sort of shape it's in.

Thanks

 

A quick timing chain test, for wear and tooth jump, valve cover has to be off. Use # 1 cyl for the reference with the crank on TDC and on the end of the exhaust stroke, beginning of intake. Distribuitor cap off so you can see the rotor move. By hand with a breaker bar and socket on the front crank bolt, turn engine till at TDC, all slack in the chain shoud be taken up now. Now bar the engine backwards watching the rotor till it just moves. Look at the timing pointer and see how much the crank moved to get the rotor to move back. 1 inch free movement or more is a worn chain. Move the crank back to TDC, watch the intake and exhaust rocker arms, they should both be closed at that position BUT if you move the crank back and forth to either side of TDC you should see the exhaust valve finish closing and intake begin opening. This happens at TDC. If it happens away more to one side of TDC the chain has jumped, making everything, valve timing, ignition timing, way to late or way to early.

Cap

 

30k on a 56. that i personally have to doubt, i would believe 130, as to turning over slow, 1956 was fords move to 12 volt systems, and ford had major issues with grounding, i would start as others have written,plus clean every ground point, have a starter shop go over that starter as those old dogs had their own issues

 

So it turns out the starter was the culprit, it was very hard to turn so it dragged the battery down whenever I cranked it over. I replaced the starter and now she fires up in what seems like a half a revolution. As for the mileage on this truck, it was a yard/water tanker for a mill or something and spent most of it's life there spraying water to keep the dust down so it really didn't travel much.
The problem that I'm having now is trying to find the correct master cylinder for the brakes, everyone has the F100 MC but the one on the F350 is larger and I can't seem to find one.
Thanks.

 

perik56, if finding a correct MC is fruitless try a rebuild kit. So long as the bore has no scores in it and cleans up nicely from honing it. Also quick online search showed a dozen different places offering New MC's for 1956 Ford F-350 Truck. This is the Ebay link below.

https://www.ebay.com/b/Master-Cylinders-for-1956-Ford-F-350/33566/bn_94428680