355tpipickup

iTrader: (5)

so my father has a 74 camaro with a built 327 in it, he says around 400hp. the car has been sitting and has not been started or moved since 96. im thinkin for his birthday im goin to get her runnin and get it all cleaned up and show up at his house with it for his bday, whats the proses i want to take to get the car runnin again, drain fuel, oil, radiator..........check plugs.....crank motor over by hand a few times, pull plugs and spray some oil in the cilinders????? just need some help on whats best to do!! thanks

Vader

A lot of what you encounter may depend upon how the car was prepared for storage. If it was just turned off and put away, you're going to have some work to do.

Buy a new battery - Period. Even if the old one shows some life and takes some charge, it's risking your alternator to run an old, sulphated battery, and possibly battery explosion.

Buy new belts. The old ones are so dry by now they may not survive the startup, and certainly won't survive any driving for long.

When shopping for batteries and belts, pick up some cooling system cleaner, coolant concentrate, enough oil for two changes, a couple oil filters, spark plugs and a fuel filter.

Pull the old spark plugs and pump some 2-cycle oil or transmission fluid into the cylinders. Don't crank the engine yet. Don't install any plugs yet.

You'll want to inspect everything that has been exposed to fuel. Everything is suspect, from the tank pickup sock filter to the pump and carburetor. At the very least you'll want to drain the tank and plan on replacing the filter soon AFTER the engine is running - Let the old filter catch most of the large stuff first.

The oil should be drained before starting and the filter replaced with a regular filter. The first startup may liberate a lot of contaminants, so you'll want a fresh filter to catch all of it - An old filter will only tend to plug and go to bypass mode, allowing nasty oil ans debris into your critical parts. Plan on changing the filter and oil again after a few hours running time. Most of that running should be under no load.

Once the oil has been drained and replaced, connect your new battery and crank the engine (plugs still out) several revolutions. If there is an oil pressure gauge, you should see oil pressure build as you crank. The initial cranking may be slower since there may be scaling in the cylinders. If you hear any unusual mechanical noises, stop cranking. If you break a ring while cranking, you'll need to freshen the engine again. There is also a risk of sticking a valve or three while cranking. The ten year old varnish on the valve stems could be quite hard and dry, and wedge the valves in the open position.

If the cranking goes normally, pump a little more oil into the cylinders and crank some more. After most of the oil is dispelled, install the old spark plugs if they appear to be intact.

Drain the coolant and refill with water. Keep the radiator cap off or loose until you get the engine running normally. Once the cooling system is filled, you can pour some fresh fuel into the tank and try starting.

At this point, you may be dealing with carburetor problems or may be lucky. We'll cross our fingers. If you're lucky, start the engine and allow it to run for a minute or so, no more. After shut down, you should check for unusual noises, heating, leakages, oil level, whatever.

If you're lucky to this point, you can restart the engine and allow it to warm up enough to heat the coolant and oil. If there are no obvious coolant leaks, cap the radiator and allow pressure to build while the engine runs. Make sure you monitor the interior of the car for heater core leakage as well.

Still lucky? Allow the engine to fully warm up, shut it off, and drain the water from the cooling system (as well as all the junk it liberates). Be careful of the pressure and hot coolant mixture. Flush all you can and follow the instructions on the cooling system cleaner. This usually involves running the engine more to mix and heat the coolant, but don't drive the vehicle.

Once the cooling system is cleaned and refilled with the correct coolant mixture, and you have repaired/replaced any belts, hoses, or other problems, you can try the transmission. Remember that the vehicle's brakes are likely to be very rusted, and may present a problem, so try not to move the vehicle. Run the transmission through the ranges just to operate the assembly. If you have a few hours into the project by then, you can change the oil and filter again.

At this point, the engine should be ready for a light loading, and you're on your own for moving the vehicle, operating the brakes, steering, and suspension. Remember the rear axle, steering and suspension lubrication, body lubrication, and transmission service. Brakes that stick, leak, or rust together, dried and cracked or rotton tires, exhaust system corrosion, and leaking shocks are all potential problems, and only you can assess them.

Once you get the vehicle moving and delivered, ask your father to drive or at least start the vehicle every few months so that you and/or he does't have to go through all this again. Just keep the rest of the maintenance current, and it should be easy.

And relay our wishes for a happy birthday.

Red Devil

I'll only add my HB's and maybe displace a half quart of that new oil with a half quart of tranny fluid. Maybe a full quart if it is a roller block/conversion. And maybe open the v/c and introduce some PB blaster in the appropriate spot or three. Other reservoirs should also be changed and taken care (bled through if appropriate) of if Vader missed any.

83_Camaro_83

Vader you took the words right outta my mouth

84 Restore

Last March I took my car that had been sitting in a garage sense 1996 and I thru a new battery in her and pumped the gas a couple times (had gas stablizer in it) and after a few seconds of cranking it started right up. I let it warm up out side and then spun the tires for a few seconds and parked it in my other garage and tore her apart. The only things I found that were wrong were the thermostat was stuck and the break lines were leaking...pads were sticking too. Thats on a motor with 158k on it. I hated to tear it apart that motor ran so nice. LET THE REBUILD BEGIN.... You should hear her scream now Good luck with it. Keep a close eye on it as it runs. I wish I had you for a son.>>>> If I had a son

355tpipickup

iTrader: (5)

wow thanks guys, i was not expecting such fast replies. sounds like i have alot of work on my hands but i have in tell june 18th so i have some time. i just turned 20 and ive been workin on cars ever since i was driving so this project shouldn’t be over my head, seems pritty straight forward. the car has been sitting in side storage so it has not had any weather on it so that will help out a lot!! the last memory i had in the car was.....i was in 6th grade and dad came and picked me up from school, the noise of the car made me so excited, i loved that car, he pulled it out of storage that day to get the emissions done on it and then he was goin to put her back away in tell next year. "work, kids, wife, LIFE, took over and so his toy had to be put away" we were on are way home and i remember us gettin close to our old house, we pulled into the subdivision, and we slowly drive over one of those huge speed bumps that are like 6-8 feet long, as soon as the back tires hit the ground he poped the clutch and layed about 5 feet of rubber "just enough to open her up" then he looked at me with the biggest smile and said "its to easy" i thought it was sooooo cool, ever since ive been ably to drive ive always wanted to ride in her again, ive hounded dad over the years to get it running but he just says "not enough time, and its just goin to end up back in storage after a few days so why spend the money" --he owns his own plumbing biz, i work for him as well-- ever since I pulled the 4.3 and put the built 91 z28 motor in my 92 chevy sport truck, I can tell that he is missin the car, just the other day I took him for a ride in it and we got to talkin about the car....good times.... I guess now that im making a lil money and I have a pritty good idea of whats goin on as far as workin on cars, now is a better time then any to get her out and runnin, I guess im hopin that when he sees the car runnin and lookin good he will forget about work and have a lil fun for a change, who knows maybe I can get him to come to the track with me this summer and run together!!!! anyways thanks again for all your help, ill let you know if i run into any other problems along the way!! Ryan

my3rdgen

DON"T FORGET INSURANCE!

You'd hate to get the car all cleaned up for your Dad, then wipe it out taking it to his house.

My best friend bought a 1969 SS Chevelle/Malibu back in 1974. He drove it as is for a few years then blew up the 396. He had it completley overhauled and hopped up, and he had the car painted and the interior redone... The whole nine yards.

The day he got it back from the body shop, his wife was complaining about having to go to the laundry-mat and needed the car. He didn't want to take the Chevelle to work at the Forge, so he let her take it. He had not even driven it yet other than home from the bodyshop to park it in the garage. He thought, "what can happen, the L-Mat is only 2 blocks away?". He figured he would call the insurance man that weekend.

She was coming home from the L-Mat and 2 kids did a holeshot while making a left hand turn into traffic and wiped the front end right off the Chevelle. Then they lied and made some cockamamie story up and had the cop write his wife a ticket.

All with no insurance. This was back in 1980 so insurance was not required.

These boards are full of horror stories just like this one. Don't take the chance. If I am telling you somthing you already know, then good for you for using your head.

Hell, maybe you can pay up his insurance for the summer too. It would make a cool addition to the B-day gift.

Tell Pops I said Happy Birthday too.

BAD91CamaroRS

Your dad and I share the same Birthday, Ill be 18 on June 18th. This brings back memories that I've had working on cars with my dad. My dad has a 55 Chevy sitting in the garage thats been put on hold for over 20 years. We worked on it for a year or so untill i got my car and the motor blew up and now im restoring my blazer. Hopefully next summer when I have break from college I can get the car out and start some work on it. GOOD LUCk and tell your dad happy birthday!

355tpipickup

iTrader: (5)

well today is fathersday and i just got through showin my father the car, took me 2 weekends to get her worked through and started, everythin went smooth!!!! only problem im havin now with it is we cant get her to idle when its hot worth a crap! does anyone know the cam specs of a 69 z28 cam? thats the cam the motor has and he said if he knew the specs it would help out with tunin!! were gana rebuild the carb and try to get her runnin tip top shape, he was stocked, i told him to drive it up the road so i could see it drive, i think he was back in the "good old days" when he was back in the driver seat, he rompt on it and left a few nice black marks ! just wanted to say thanks again to all of you that help me out with this, would have had a lot more trouble without your help, so thanks!!!!!!

Spectre

Its a 929 cam

Something like .390/.410 I/E lift and 310/320 I/E duration.

my3rdgen

I think Crane grinds that cam as a "Classic Muscle Car Cam" or whatever they call it. Call them up and ask them for a spec sheet.