I've been very bad to my Vette, I haven't started it in some three odd years. What sort of prep / tuning work should I do prior to try to start it? Should I change the oil?

I took out the remaining gas a long time ago, I know it has a dead battery, but I finally have the time and most importantly the $$ to get it running and I just don't want to screw it up any worse than it is the first time I try to turn it over.

Thanks,
Zachary

 

I would change the cap and rotor,maybe put a little Marvel mystery oil in the cylinders for a few days and the turn the motor over by hand just to make sure the rings are not stuck.Then put fresh plugs a charged battery,change the oil and filter and check to make sure the carb isn't going to leak and change the fuel filter,and fire away.

 

"cap and rotor"

Do you mean distributor cap and rotor?

 

Yes,and points if you have them.

 

Zack, go ahead and change the oil leave about a quart low add desiel fuel to the crankcase to bring it up to the full mark. spin the engine without letting it start( remove coil to dist wire) till it builds up oil pressure. drain oil and filter replentish. put in new fuel and crank the car. Thank goodness you drained the gasoline from the car hope it was completely drained stuff makes a mess otherwise you will be driving down the road and the car will just quit running. been there done that the diesel fuel is much thiner than the oil and will help remove deposits.

 

i think the idea of draining the oil is a good one, also taking out spark plugs and squirting in oil is a good idea and let it sit for a day or two , turning it by hand is a good one also, better yet pull the distributor and put in an oil pump primer and turn that with a drill until oil comes out of all the rockers and then. you are good to go.... make sure you have at least two full revoultions of the engine so the valve train gets moved and nothing is stuck....add fresh gas to the carb through the float vent stacks, a spray of starting fluid and good luck

 

Are you sure about this diesel fuel thing? I wouldn't do that if it was me. Just change the oil and filter, fresh fuel and filter, pull the coil wire and spin it until it gets oil pressure and start it up. 3 years is not really that long if stored indoors.

 

Thank you very much for the replies, I'm not much of a mechanic so please bear with me.

Since bobs77 mentioned removing the distributor putting in an oil pump primer and turning it with a drill (it being the rod that runs down below the distributor?) until oil comes out the rockers, I understand that the basic concept, but how will I know the oil is coming out the rockers without the valve covers off? either way I have a few more questions.

The only time I took the valve covers off was with my old neighbor that also had a 76 and he took them off to adjust the rockers, when he did we noticed that there was quite alot of gunk and buildup in there, and he suggested I clean it out some time and use diesel to clean that out.

Since I look to have a pretty crowded weekend this weekend perhaps the best place to start and correct me if I'm wrong or if I need to re-order any of these steps.

Pick up valve gaskets, new spark plugs, oil, oil filter, and fuel filter.

This weekend:

1. Remove valve covers. clean area (should I use diesel for this?)
2. After cleaning add some fresh oil directly to the rockers/arms.
3. Replace valve covers with new gaskets.
4. change oil/filter.
5. Remove spark plugs, add small amount of fresh oil into the cylinders.
6. install new spark plugs.
7. Replace fuel filter.
8. crank by hand a couple times
9. put in new battery, remove coil to dist wire turn it over a couple times, replace coil to dist wire and start?

Any more input on staging over multiple days? multiple oil changes with/without diesel? I'm not sure where this would fit into the steps and I have mixed opinions so far. I can tell you in terms of how dirty the oil is that it was very fresh the last and only time I drove the car, and I drove it less than 5 miles with basically new oil so I'm not sure how much I should worry about deposits.

Thank you very much for your responses.

 

IMO If your not mechanically inclined I would not pull the distributor...we discuss getting that thing back right a lot. Just another variable to add in getting the car running again.

 

put some fresh gas in it and see what happens, just take it easy on it and let it idle for a good long time.

 

motorpsycho502: No problem there, the transmission is dead, so it won't actually be moving anywhere.

 

leave the spark plugs out and crank at least two revoloutions by hand....and then with spark plugs out and coil grounded or disconnected let the car spin under no load a couple of times with the starter ...then put plugs in and fire it up

 

What he said!

 

-yep, 3-years is no big deal, but best add about 6-gals of Regular to 'freshen' the petrol; --then 'pull-the-plugs' and spray-in some good-quality aerosol-oil ('LPS' is good, 'WD40' is really not very good, -but better than nothing) when the piston is at bdc on each of the eight (all the while holding-on to the plastic wand-tip so that it not fall into a cylinder); --then, immediately get in and watch the oil-pressure gauge as you spin her over at least twenty to fourty revolutions. Then slap the plugs back in (install fresh '$1/AutoLite-plugs' if the old ones were long used), --squirt some petrol into the carburetor, then set the aircleaner-lid back loosely (you likely have to prime again before she continues to run, -but having freely-cranked her pretty long, the carburetor-bowl will hopefully be full unless you have a fuel-pump issue); --thus if it ran okay 3-years ago, she should start-up and smooth-out after a minute. Then if automatic, and with a slow-idle, shift her into drive, then reverse, then drive, etc, for a bit before you back her out to check things out, --and look where she was parked to see what leakage might have occured.... ~R.vH