Scoutboy74
Moderator
Welcome. Your engine should be the AMC 258 I-6. There's not much discussion of I-6 powered, D-line trucks on the forums, as the V8 engine options are far more commonplace in these big pickups. Scout II's of similar vintage with that same engine are fairly common, though. Its quite possible your truck may have originally been part of some fleet service in which greater fuel economy had more value than sheer brute strength. Getting your own copy of the factory service manual... http://www.ihpartsamerica.com/store/SLCTS-2303.html ...is never a bad idea. Your entire fuel system from tank to carb should be clean and leak free. It is possible to bypass the onboard tank(s) and run temporarily from a clean fuel can and hose connected to the supply side of the fuel pump during your initial revival and tuning efforts. Any engine that has been sitting dormant for a significant time should have the lubrication system pre-primed before any attempts are made to turn the engine over either via starter motor or by hand tool. This essentially involves removal of the distributor, so that a slotted engagement tool chucked into a power drill can be inserted down the hole for engagement with the oil pump drive shaft. This allows the pump to be rotated, thus building oil pressure that forces oil to flow up to the top of the engine to lubricate critical friction parts before they are dry-rotated. Once oil pressure has been built up and top end lubrication has been achieved, it is then acceptable to slowly rotate the engine by hand in small increments, while still driving pressure and flow with the power drill. Complete one full engine rotation in this manner and the lubrication system will be fully primed. At that point, the drill can be set aside, the distributor re-inserted, and ignition system static timing verified/adjusted to spec. Once all that is done, a fresh fuel supply can be introduced along with a fully charged cranking battery. Only now should starter motor cranking begin. But before most of those steps can begin, you will obviously need to have a fully assembled engine. Obviously, what I've described is a very broad overview of a fairly complex and laborious process. All of these topics have been discussed in great detail within the bowels of this forum. Spend some time browsing through the posts in the GAS ENGINE, ELECTRICAL, BASIC TECH and other pertinent categories within this forum, and especially any "sticky" threads at the upper portion of each category page. If you develop questions that try as you might you can't seem to find an answer to, by all means, post a new thread in what you believe is the most appropriate category...ie a question about brakes would go in BRAKE TECH. Try to keep the focus of your tech post questions as narrow in scope as you can. In other words, don't try to get help for every single issue the truck has in one single post. Instead make multiple posts for multiple issues, especially if those issues are not closely related...such as brake issues and engine tuning issues. Those two topics are worlds apart and are best dealt with separately.
