firing up an "old" engine
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Kinston NC
firing up an "old" engine
I'm ready to start up my Corvette that has been stored in a garage and not run in 4 or 5 years. During this time, the gas tank was dry. Is there any preparation I should to the engine before tring to start it, such as changing the oil, putting any lubricant in each cylinder, etc.?
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,004
Likes: 2
From: Severna Park Md
Re: firing up an "old" engine (J B)
As long as its been stored dry, get a good fully charged battery. It will take some cranking to fill up the carb resevoir with gas. Or you could try priming it with a small amount of gas in the throat. If you wanna really be sure, get an oil pump primer, remove the dist, and prime the engine up prior to starting. It needs gas, spark and compression to run. If it was good when you shut it off, compression and timing issues should still be good. Good Luck. :cheers:
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 6,161
Likes: 0
From: Easton PA
Re: firing up an "old" engine (Jvette73)
My 82 sat for 1 1/2 years. I pulled plugs and shot some Marvel Mystery Oil into the cylinders. Let it set for an hour and then hooked up battery and "bumped" the motor for 5 sec every 30 sec. Then cleaned engine area, put plugs in and fired her up. Smoked like hell until the oil burned off but no probelms here. Been running great ever since! Just my .02 :seeya
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 2,897
Likes: 0
From: Moon Township PA
Re: firing up an "old" engine (J B)
Obviously, in addition to a fresh oil change, new antifreeze/water, I would definetly prime the oil system with an external primer before I ran the engine. I think you will save lots of wear and tear. I took an old distributor shaft and made the end the right size to fit a 3/8" drill. I pulled the distributor out and then I primed my freshly rebuilt 66 engine until I had good oil pressure. I kept that up for two minutes. Start up was a breeze and I was certain that I have enough oil in the passages to keep from damaging any parts. This is cheap insurance. If you don't have an old distributor shaft, they sell the pumps.
Gary
Gary
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 7,831
Likes: 5
From: Austin TX
Re: firing up an "old" engine (J B)
Lot's of good info...
One thing to keep in mind is that you'll need to turn the crank
while pre-oiling to get the oil passages lined up to oil everything.
What I do is pull the valve covers and watch the oil come up through
the pushrods. You'll start spinning the pre-oiler and after a bit you'll
see oil coming up through some of the pushrods. Then turn the crank
over about a quarter turn and go again. You'll get oil coming up through
another set of pushrods. Keep repeating this till you've seen oil come up through every pushrod.
I've only dealt with Holley carbs so I don't know q-jets or whatever,
but with Holleys you can use an eye dropper to fill the fuel bowls
through the vents. You can't even imagine how long it takes a
mechanical pump to pull gas all the way through and fill the bowls
so the engine will fire. You really want to get the engine firing as
fast as you can and bring it up to about 2000 rpm so the cam
and everything is getting oil.
One thing to keep in mind is that you'll need to turn the crank
while pre-oiling to get the oil passages lined up to oil everything.
What I do is pull the valve covers and watch the oil come up through
the pushrods. You'll start spinning the pre-oiler and after a bit you'll
see oil coming up through some of the pushrods. Then turn the crank
over about a quarter turn and go again. You'll get oil coming up through
another set of pushrods. Keep repeating this till you've seen oil come up through every pushrod.
I've only dealt with Holley carbs so I don't know q-jets or whatever,
but with Holleys you can use an eye dropper to fill the fuel bowls
through the vents. You can't even imagine how long it takes a
mechanical pump to pull gas all the way through and fill the bowls
so the engine will fire. You really want to get the engine firing as
fast as you can and bring it up to about 2000 rpm so the cam
and everything is getting oil.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Kenmore Washington
Re: firing up an "old" engine (J B)
Off the topic of the engine starting, but related to fluids........Since the car hasn't been driven in 4 or 5 years, a look at/bleeding of the brake fluid system might be in order. Would hate to hear of a nice sounding motor and drive story, but couldn't stop when needed until contact with ________. :D
Just my 2 pennies, and two thumbs up on gettin her back on the road!
Just my 2 pennies, and two thumbs up on gettin her back on the road!
