I have a 1952 235 engine in my 1951 Suburban; when I bought the truck about 5 years ago, the engine was the only thing that was basically good with the vehicle.  It ran beautifully and idled like a sewing machine; it doesn’t seem to leak a drop of oil.  I put only a couple hundred miles on it per year.  Last week, I pulled the truck out of my shed to move out my camper, and then pulled it back in; it ran perfectly as usual.  Four days later, I returned home and tried to start the truck to move things back in order.  It fired once as I turned it over and then refused to start.  I tried again and again, even with the aid of starting fluid, and it would not start, or even fire; I checked the coil and every spark plug—spark was good. I checked the points—spark was good and gap was correct; points are almost new. Still no start.  I then checked the fuel filter in front of the carb, I checked the entire fuel line, and replaced the fuel pump (thinking it might be a faulty pump; the fuel lines and gas tank are new). I could get it to start once, but could barely keep it running by feeding the accelerator, and then it ran very rough; once letting off the accelerator, it died and wouldn’t start again.  I then removed the carburetor (thinking one of the passages might have picked up some foreign matter, etc.).  It’s a Rochester B with automatic choke.  I cleaned all passages with carb cleaner and piano wire and compressed air; it looked good and clean.  I remounted the carb and was able to start the engine once again, but it ran very rough and would only continue running with a constant feed on the accelerator; once I let off, it stalled out. I’ve worn down the battery trying to start it and keep it going.

I’m not sure what to try next—could it be a bad or malfunctioning coil or condenser? Could the timing be off—but how could timing change literally one start from the next, after it was running perfectly before?  What would you try next?  Obviously a very frustrating situation given the fact that it was running perfectly when I shut it down four days ago, and subsequently would not start on the very next try after sitting idle in an enclosed shed for four days!  Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Jim