I recently purchased an F-250 Stock Bed which was allegedly ran three years ago before it was parked behind a barn and left for dead. The owner said it ran like a top and he had originally planned on restoring it but just never found time. I already have two F-100 so I thought this would be a good candidate for a flatbed rebuild. I trailered it home and started tinerking with it. Over a week, I had removed the spark plugs and each day gave the cylinders a little shot of Wd-40 just to get things lubed up a little. Tonite was the big moment. I installed the battery with a new mount and cables. I turned the key and the starter spun but the engine never engaged. For some reason, I put the truck in gear and sure enough, the truck moved forward in forward and reverse in reverse. A little red flag popped up, but did not engage my brain. So I removed the battery and then the starter. You have not lived until you remove the top starter bolt on a 272. As I was eating dinner, the light came on......moves in gear when you hit the starter with clutch out and transmission engaged. Now I realize the engine must have been spinning over but without the spark plugs, it just did not sound like I assumed it would sound. There was no engine noise whatsoever, just the sounds of the starter spinning. I guess tommorow is my lesson on installing the starter and trying to start the engine. Is there anything I should do to the starter before I put it back on? It appears the plug wires have never been changed so Im at least going to clean up that mess and install new wires.

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's