First let me introduce myself, since this is my first post. My name is Steve and I will be picking up a 1979 vette this week. Im a member over on FFCobra.com. I build a fact 5 cobra and had to sell it last summer. I had the opertunity to get a vette for a great deal, so now im here. I have been reading this forum for a couple weeks, and doing seaches trying to answer any questions I might have. The forum is really great and has some great info. So if i ask something that has already been cover, let me appologize in a advance. I was unable to find it in the search.

The car Im picking up is from a friend of my fathers. It has been sitting for 6 years and he said it ran great when they parked it. It was actually his brother's, who took it off the road in the fall of 2000 for the winter. He took a job in CA and never returned home. SO the car has just sat there.

I plan on changing all the fluids in the engine, trans, rear end, repack the wheel bearings, ect. and I have sent away for one of those rebuilt brake kits, since im sure that its gonna need it.

My question to you guys is how do you go about starting an engine that has sat for so long? Anything preventative to do prior to turning it over for the first time? Should I put Marvel Mist oil, in the plug holes and turn it over with the plugs out at first?

Any tips or trick would be apreciated, doesnt have to be on the engine. Anything that I should be doing to a car thats been sitting so long, to prevent damage.

thanks
Steve

 

welcome

Yes, change oil and filter, check coolant (probably needs to be changed after 6 years), tranny fluid.
I'd remove the plugs and pour some oil in each cylinder and let it soak, MarvelMystery oil might be a good idea because it's thinner than oil (at least it seems to be).. try cranking the engine by hand first (crankshaft bolt) ....if it turns fine then crank the engine a few times without the spark plugs/wires.

 

Besides the stuff you listed, Pull the distributor and use a heavy duty power drill to drive the oil pump until you get some oil coming up in the pushrods, make sure the carb has gas in it, you can prefill the bowl thru the air horn with a baster. Reinstall the dist and fire it up.
What brake kit did you order?

 

thanks guys for getting back to me so quick.

this is the brake kit i bought
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...dept%5Fid=1033

what do you guys think of ecklers, i thought they seemed to have some pretty good prices.

 

The VBP O-ring calippers seem to be pretty good, very good feedback here on the forum. On Eckler's website they say they're O-ring calippers. VBP has a patent on this so i assume they're from VBP....
I did not want to deal with core charges and shipping these heavy pieces so I just went to AutoZone and got my calippers there. SS sleeved for $62 a piece... put the old and nasty looking ones on the counter and got the new ones...

You might want to get the SS braided hoses instead of the stock rubber hoses.

 

You should expect to have to rebuild the Q-Jet. After sitting that long, I'd be surprised if you don't find a mess left behind where the old gasoline evaporated long ago.

 

not to mention the gas in the tank which is probably shellac by now. personally, i wouldn't leave the fuel line to the carb connected. i would do all that has been stated above, particularly the generation of oil pressure via an electric drill (basic stuff for the installation of a new, never started engine), and hook up a fuel line from a gas can suspended from above the engine to feed via gravity (you can't count on the fuel pump diaphram being any good at this point either and the last thing you want is to pump sludge into the already stale carb).