Ok i ran across the deal of a lifetime, this dude told me i could have his 1987 Camaro. He said theres nothing he can do with it, he said he bought it in 1987 and drove it for a year and parked it and his cousin drove it for like two or three years ( about 5 years ago) and its been sitting ever since. I want to go and pick the car up but i dont know what to check for to see if it is drivable. I was told to change the Oil, Spark plugs, Spark plug wires, and distributor, as well as oil filter. What else to check for? i want to turn the key and see if it fire up. I have to go and look at it again to see if it has a 305 or a 350, i am hoping it is the 350. TPI, t-top. Dude has like 3 chevys and a benz lol its my dream car to. But yea what do i need to check because if this joka will start up and run, after checking fluids i am going to put tires on it and drive it home.

 

put some dry gas in it.. if its been sittting a long time the gas in it is most likely bad. bring a can of starting fluid with you to spray up into the intake if she dont wanna start right away.

 

as posted above before starting the car drain the old gas, and replenish with new. Also replace any and all filters (fuel, oil, air, tranny) drain and replace all fluids, and a fresh battery never hurt. While your doing that I'd go ahead and pull the alternator and have it tested. Its free and you never know it might need replacing as well.

 

I would at least pop out the oil drain plug to see what comes out. I worked on a '77 T/A that sat for 7 years, and we drained the oil before anything and it had at least a quart of water come out before the old oil did.

 

dont start it right away pull coil wire off crank it till u get oil pressure first if its been sittin a long time wait till u get pressure then try starting it so you don't hurt anything

 

What if it ran great 2 years ago with new fluids in it before it sat and now you just put new ignition, intake, exhaust, on it and am going to start it spring of 09. Anything for.....um this guy I know to look for before doing so.

 

Basic Tune up, and lubricants.

1) Go and get the cheapest oil and filter you can. $30. Change the oil.
2) Check tranny fluid (just make sure it registers ABOVE ful while not running). If its manual, dont worry about it.
3) Change all the spark plugs- $30 max. Just get regular AC Delcos, or Champions.
4) Its a TPI so bringing quick start isnt terribly useful, and the fuel pump is likely in TANK so you will have to drain the old gas, and put in new gas. You can get a draining kit from parts place. Its meant to pump gas out of a can into gas tank, but you can easily use it the other way around.
4b) Put a bit of methly hydrate in there too, i bet the fuel lines have vapour lock. (If you dont want to buy a big jug of methyl hydrate, get some gas line antifreeze, its the same thing).
5) Spark plug wires are expensive, but if you can afford them, get a set right away. If not, go and see the car first. Pull off one wire, and bend it in a bunch of places. If it isnt frayed, you should be ok. If it is, replace them all.

6) Bring a wire brush. Im not sure if TPI's have a distributor or if they use some kind of coil pack, but if it has a distributor, pop off the cap, and bursh down all the metal contact points.

7) Bring a battery (obviously) and some jumper cables.

AT this point the car still wont fire right up, because it has to flush the old gas out of the lines first. Itll take alot of cranking, just stay with it. Dont crank for more than 6 seconds or so continuosly, and let the starter cool off for about 10 seconds in between cranking.

Good luck,.

UNLESS YOU LIVE DOWN THE STREET, DO NOT i say again DO NOT DRIVE IT HOME.

If its been standing that long, the brakes are rusted to all hell, and wont give you any stopping power. That is if you step on the brakes and the lines dont burst right away.

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

No need to replace the distributor. Cap and rotor, maybe, but not the distributor.

 

Thank you this is exactly what i was looking for. I was always told to change the oil and plugs and wires and it should fire up but i wasnt sure. How do i check for oil pressure? i mean this is my first time doing something like this i dont want to mess nothing up.

 

How would i know when i have oil pressure

 

Crank it over with the distributor power disconnected, watch for the oil pressure gage to come up. It is disabled while the ignition is in the "start" position, so you'd need to crank for a few seconds and let off the switch to the "on" position, watch the gage.

 

I'd pull the plugs and squirt oil into the cylinders before cranking it over... Then you can inspect, and most likely replace, the spark plugs.
who knows if it *really* was running before it was parked eh?

 

Thats a good idea. You can buy fogging oil. Its used for boats when they are going into storage. Pull the plug off, give it a little spray (from aerosol can), install new plug. Presto.

 

Ok imma try that,