Well, this is the fist time I've posted on ThirdGen.org for 8 years. I sold my 85 Z28 in 2009....it was the first car I bought in high school, and really appreciated everyone's help on the forum as you taught a 17 year old boy everything he needed to know about working on old cars.

A couple weeks ago, I found my old car! They guy I bought it from bought it, put in in a garage, and never used it, so I bought it back from him for next to nothing.

Since the car has been sitting and hadn't been started in 6 years, I've done the following things to it...

• Drained gas tank and put fresh fuel & fuel filter
• Rebuilt carburetor
• Changed engine oil and filter
• Took out spark plugs and shot some WD40 in each cylinder head
• Installed new spark plugs

I hooked up a fresh battery, turned the key, and the starter clicked and I lost all power in the car. I tested the starter and it tested good. I double checked the wiring to the starter and it looked good. The ground connections look good. Am I missing something? Is there a relay or something electrical I should look at?

Thanks!

 

Wow, that's cool you got your car back!
Sounds like faulty battery or bad battery connections/corrosion? What happens when you try to jump it? Have you tried to manually turn the engine by hand at the harmonic balancer to make sure the rings haven't rusted to the cylinder walls? Sounds like you've done everything correct so far...

 

When I try to jump it, the same thing happens.

How exactly do I turn the engine by hand? Do I put a breaker on the nut on the balancer?

 

Could still be corrosion, if the same result is by jumping terminals that have corrosion between the terminals and cables...
Yes, breaker bar on the center nut of the harmonic balancer, sorta difficult fit, bit it should spin clockwise freely...
Some things I'm thinking may have happened, but will save for later...

 

I'll tell you now... The IROC I got was when a customer freaked out because the engine wouldn't turn over. And actually, the starter nose broke because.... The fuel pressure regulator diaphragm may me torn like mine was? It allows fuel to bypass the diaphragm as soon as you turn the ignition key on, and go right into any cylinder thereby hydro-locking your engine.

 

I finally got it running! It turns out the positive battery cable had been apparently chewed-on by a mouse/rat while sitting. New battery cable, and the engine roared to life within 2 seconds of cranking. Thanks UltRoadWarrior9!

Here's a video of the car running about 10 minutes after the initial startup. I thought it sounded pretty good. The next step is to TOTALLY rebuild this car into the good handling, powerful car I've always wanted it to be. I'll be heading over to the engine swap board!