[swandude805]

hey all, i started to post the thread in builds to show the work i will do to it but i just bought a 1968 chevelle. there is no battery and the hoses to the radiator as well as the radiator have been dissassembled. the car has sat for 3 years, the last year it has sat in the weather with no hood.

my question! what do i need to know, do and pay attention to when trying to make this car run after it set so long? do i do an oil change (what weight oil) and replace all spark plugs/cables before trying? i will try and get everything connected again and get radiator fluid etc in it. what about the rear end and trans fluids? what all do i do and what should my steps be?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blownchevelle68]

Drain the oil and see what it looks like. Alot of water or other gunk? Fresh oil and filter. Check for fuel filter either inline or in carb and replace. Check fuel line condition-replacing rubber lines with new rubber.

Pull plugs and a quick squirt of PB blaster in the holes-replace with new plugs and wires.

New radiator hoses, fresh anti-freeze mixed. Check all electrical connections and try turning over. See where your at from there.




Sent from AutoGuide.com App

 

[Chevello]

I'd roll it over a few times by hand with the plugs out after putting the PB Blaster in there too. I don't know if it does any good, but it always made me feel better.

The times I have done it, I usually ended up with at least one fuel leak, so I always crank it until it gets the bowl full of fuel before letting it get spark. Nut yeah, change all the fuel lines before you even bother.

Use water for coolant at least for the first start (don't forget to put antifreeze in there later) so that if you need to, you can just dump it. I never even ran antifreeze in most of my old cars when I lived in CA, just because they were always needing a water pump or a new hose. It isn't like it ever got cold enough to freeze where I lived. You might need it once you start driving it but just to get it started, nah.

 

[novaderrik]

3 years aint nothing- i swear sometimes people think these things are made out of paper mache or something..

change the oil and filter- when in doubt, just use 10w30 oil- hook up the radiator and fill it with water. put a few gallons of fresh gas in the tank.. unplug the coil wire and hit the key to crank it until it has oil pressure that reads on the gauge and/or causes the oil light to go out... then crank it for about 10 more seconds to push oil thru the engine and also maybe prime the fuel system. dump a little gas in the vent tube of the carb to fill the bowl, pump gas with your hand and watch for gas squirting into the engine... hook coil wire back up and start it up, keeping the revs up around 2000 rpms for about 30 seconds to get the oil splashing around in the engine. then let it idle down and check for leaks and to make sure that the water level in the radiator is near the top of the engine..

that's it... drive it like normal and fix what needs fixing...

 

[bdr66]

Since it's been open to the weather, pull plugs, turn it over and watch for any water coming out. If none, button it back up and fire it up. Check the level of the trans fluid if it's an auto. If water did come out, change oil and filter, put fresh back in and fire it up.

The engine that's now in my 66 sat for 3-4 years but no water got to it. Fresh battery and a little gas in the carb and it was off and running. Trans fluid was low so added a bit and it's fine.

 

[O'Man]

Spin it over without the plugs using a good battery after the oil change. Perhaps shoot a bit of gas into each cyl....just a bit, to help it fire quickly...reinstall plugs.

Agree with the statement above about people worrying too much about these older engines. A friend had a 283 laying around..I mean LAYING around with an old rubber floor mat covering the carb. He needed a motor for a daily driver. I admit that this guy has a charmed life when it comes to machinery but FWIW. He just lifted the motor off the ground loaded it into the car. Oil change and filter. Dump some gas in the carb after new points and plugs were loaded in. Poof!!!! It ran and it ran for a LONG time after that. Believe it or not it is now in a Lead Sled 49 Mercury with 3 Stromberg cabs and ONLY a spray can Chevy Engine Orange "rebuild".

That could NEVER work for me but for Mike it is just another day at the shop. I would never load that engine in for fear it would be junk and I would have to immediately remove it. For Mike "What the hell do I have to lose"...usually he loses nothing!

 

[amx364]

Spin over with starter first, if no spin then... oh well if spin then 2) shot of gas in carb, if fire then....good if not check for spark. Later worry about everything else.

 

[Steve439]

It's not a bad idea to spend a little time making sure rodents haven't chewed the wiring harnesses.
I hate rodents.

 

[Chevello]

3 years aint nothing- i swear sometimes people think these things are made out of paper mache or something..

(clip)

that's it... drive it like normal and fix what needs fixing...

I missed the bit about only 3 years. You're right, that's nothing. My latest acquisition has been sitting 11. I'll probably pull the valve covers just because I have some cooler ones to put on, and I might throw the priming distributor in it to run the oil pump before I fire it but that's just because I'm careful and I don't want to put an engine in it yet. I'd rather put brakes and tires on it so I can drive the wheels off.

 

[swandude805]

thanks for all these responses, i think ill keep posting my questions on this thread so i dont blow up the tech forum. so here is the latest update. STILL NOT RUNNING. so i got the car with no battery, radiator disconnected but for the most part looked like the engine wiring and all the hoses were still attached and sitting out in the weather with no hood.

so today i did this:
-cleaned up all dirt and dust around the engine so it was easier to see and work on, and took all the crunchy rotted wire cover tubing off
-bought a battery and ground it to the block
-did the oil change and filter
-replaced fuel filter
-check hoses and all seem ok for the most part besides the fuel hose to the carb
-also pulled spark plugs, sprayed a solid few squirts into the plug holes and installed the new plugs
-looked up the block and its a 350
-had the aternator tested and it passed

Next i started to check wires and all seemed connected so i connected the positive cable to the battery to see where i was and the results were:
-no dash lights etc came on
-there are no fuel/oil/voltag gauges, just stock dummy lights
-the only way that i could see electricity was even flowing was to create a spark off this coil (not sure exactly what it is) on the inner fender. I touched the screw driver to the positive cable and the small cable that plugs into the firewall

what do i do next to get a crank or turnover from the key? is there a fuse blow? am i missing some important part? is something bad? i was told by another source somethin about a starter or solenoid may be out but im not sure whats actually suppose to be or not be there. here are some pics of what im talking about

 

[BACK FROM THE DEAD]

Dan no pics showing up here that I can see. But you could check the power post on the solenoid to verify that it's getting power when the key is turned to the start position (this requires 2 people), or try running power straight to it off the battery with a jumper wire.

If the starter/solenoid are good it should spin when you do that. If it doesn't then you have a bad starter or solenoid. Same deal if you are getting power to it when the key is in the start position.

If you aren't getting power to it when the key is in the start position then you have a wiring issue.
Start with the simple stuff like the ign. fuse @ the fuse-block and work out from there. Also check to verify that you have power at the hot post of the alternator too. If not then you likely have no power making it to your starter or fuse-block.

 

[Blownchevelle68]

Do you get headlights or any other marker light and if not, did you check the fusible link from positive cable to radiator support?

 

[swandude805]

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[swandude805]

Here are the pics that didnt post...i fell asleep with my computer while i was posting them up last night haha exhausted!

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[swandude805]

Im going to follow this plan next and also check fuses..i have the tool to check for power. touch the screw driver and it lights up. so i have never tried doin all this stuff alone, i always had my dad to help and a garage of tools. now i have minimal tools and hes not here to help so we may need to dumb some stuff down but i think i should be good so far. ill get back to u on checking these things..

i just know that when i hooked the battery to the solenoid, it arc'd and u can see spark/hear it make noise with the key in the ignition in the on position. i just kno that when its all connected, if i turn the key all the way nothing comeson and nothing cranks.

Dan no pics showing up here that I can see. But you could check the power post on the solenoid to verify that it's getting power when the key is turned to the start position (this requires 2 people), or try running power straight to it off the battery with a jumper wire.

If the starter/solenoid are good it should spin when you do that. If it doesn't then you have a bad starter or solenoid. Same deal if you are getting power to it when the key is in the start position.

If you aren't getting power to it when the key is in the start position then you have a wiring issue.
Start with the simple stuff like the ign. fuse @ the fuse-block and work out from there. Also check to verify that you have power at the hot post of the alternator too. If not then you likely have no power making it to your starter or fuse-block.

 

[Chevello]

I can only see 1 pic (the last one).

Is that a starter solenoid on the right fenderwell? I can't see from the pic if there is a little wire to it as well as the two big ones.

So, with the new battery connected, do the headlights come on? Brake lights? If not, there is an open somewhere coming right off the battery. Check your ground, make sure where it connects to the frame or the engine it's reasonably clean.

I think with the key in the Start position everything in the dash goes out (except the starter and the ignition coil) until you let go of it.

These things are dead simple, there can't be too much wrong with it

 

[blubu]

Hook your starter up to a button bypassing all the ignition .
If it cranks uou can narrow it down pretty quick

 

[swandude805]

ok we made some headway...

What I did:
1. hooked my honda up to the chevelle car battery as if to jump start it
2. had the battery cables ran as is - positive to starter solenoid which goes down to the starter, NEGATIVE to the starter solenoid which then goes down to the starter as well and also ground to the block

Results:
-Dome light came on
-Dash Lights on
-turn the key and it would make a buzz noise but no crank

What is the diagnosis at this point?? do you think it could be a bad starter solenoid or what does this all mean?

while i wait for responses im heading to kragens to get a few things and am going to have the starter tested...

 

[swandude805]

so before i went to try again, i took a 5/8 socket to the center bolt of the crank pulley and turned it clockwise to see if it would turn...i think the bolt must have been stripped bc either way i turn it, it didnt tighten up much....

how bad is this and what should i do ???

thanks all

 

[Chevello]

It's hard for me to tell without seeing more pics of how the wiring is going, but it sounds weird that the negative from the battery is going to the solenoid. Something about that doesn't sound right. Wire should go from the battery positive to the solenoid and from the other side of the solenoid down to the starter. There should be a trigger wire that gets power when you turn the key to start connected to the smaller terminal on the solenoid. There should also be some smaller wires from the positive that go to the firewall to power the inside of the car.

The battery negative should go from the battery directly to the engine, but I have seen people connect it to the body or frame and then run another heavy (battery cable size) wire from the frame to the engine.

Oh, if it is a plastic fenderwell, there will need to be something from one of the solenoid mounting bolts to the frame of the car.

You should be able to jump from the battery connection on the solenoid to the smaller terminal and get it to crank. I used to have a cheapo pair of needle nose pliers I used for that quick test. It will arc and mess up your pliers. That starter solenoid on the fenderwell isn't normal for a Chevy. Some people put them on because the solenoid built into the starter overheats from having long tube headers on the car. Others do it so they don't have that big, fat, always powered cable running right past the header. Anyways, I don't know how much of that matters to you.


(edit) I wouldn't trust that tiny bolt to turn the engine over. If you break it off in the crank, it can be a mess. Grab the lower pulley with a strap wrench or get underneath and pry it around using the teeth of the flywheel or flex plate. If the engine is stuck, the starter will make a pretty heavy clang when it engages. and you'll know something isn't quite right.