Fire up of engine that has sit for years?

50 F1 · January 30, 2014, 09:55:24 AM

This motor I have been asking all the carb questions about (68 327) has not been started in about 15 years. It was rebuilt, broke in and driven for maybe 30 miles and then nothing for all those years. I have bared the motor over a couple revolutions so it is not stuck. Should I spray any oil in the cylinders? I have a old distributor reworked so I can attach a drill motor on it to prime the oil pump but the intake will have to come off and it is too close to the fire wall to get the drill in there with out pulling the motor.

I figure the pump is still primed so I think I will just roll it over with the starter with no gas and no plugs in it. Get some oil up top and then start it.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks Mike

phat46 · January 30, 2014, 12:46:05 PM

Quote from: "50 F1"This motor I have been asking all the carb questions about (68 327) has not been started in about 15 years. It was rebuilt, broke in and driven for maybe 30 miles and then nothing for all those years. I have bared the motor over a couple revolutions so it is not stuck. Should I spray any oil in the cylinders? I have a old distributor reworked so I can attach a drill motor on it to prime the oil pump but the intake will have to come off and it is too close to the fire wall to get the drill in there with out pulling the motor.

I figure the pump is still primed so I think I will just roll it over with the starter with no gas and no plugs in it. Get some oil up top and then start it.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks Mike

Why would you have to remove the intake? The modded distributor should sit right where a regular one sits on the intake. Also how about some type of a flex shaft for your drill? I have even seen a speed wrench used to prime an engine. I personally would do what ever I could to prime the engine although you could probably get away with a little oil in the cylinders and cranking with no plugs, but I myself would worry about oil to the bearings.

tomslik · January 30, 2014, 06:30:41 PM

here's what I'd do; overfill (by about 3-4 quarts)the crankcase THRU the distributor hole (if you don't have a filler tube, if so, just use that), reason being is you need some oil on the cam+lifters and the crank will be sitting in oil and spin it over.
dumping it in thru the valve covers won't get the cam lubed..

uh, I don't have to tell you to drain the oil down to the proper level when you're done, do I?

phat rat · January 30, 2014, 09:09:40 PM

Another vote to prime first. Do you know someone who has a right angle drill you could borrow?

1800guy · January 30, 2014, 11:29:02 PM

Just my .02 cents worth - I'd go with the speed wrench to prime, rather than a drill. That way you can feel how much resistance there is in the pump, not break anything if it drags, etc. Also, I like to remove the oil filter and fill it with fresh oil instead of having to pump it full by hand if it has drained out over the years. YMMV

Mac · January 31, 2014, 11:42:41 AM

Your priming tool maybe does not give enough clearance. I got a priming tool on eBay for way cheap and I was able to do mine in the engine bay. Mine is right up tight to the firewall, too.
Another trick is to use a right angle drill attachment. You can find them cheap and they're a really usefull tool.

jaybee · January 31, 2014, 09:57:36 PM

I don't think anyone has mentioned shooting a little squirt of motor oil in through each spark plug hole and turning the motor over to distribute it.

Anything that will prevent something that should have a coating of oil from starting dry will be worth doing.

Crosley.In.AZ · February 01, 2014, 09:12:47 AM

I would suggest oil used is the : "break in" oil or a diesel oil like Rotella or Delo

Plenty of ZDDP chemical in it for camshaft wear as the other folks are mentioning

wayne petty · February 03, 2014, 04:53:48 AM

depending on how tight the motor was sealed.. and how dry the area it was stored in...

you could have rust on the cam lobes.. do you will want to change the drain plug to a magnetic version..

i always pull the spark plugs. just a shot of wd40. try to smash the tip of the straw flat.. so it has a broad spray.. and make sure it won't come out the nozzle.. i have more than once needed to dig spray straws out of intakes ...
don't use heavy oil that might foul the spark plugs or hydraulic a cylinder. and if the engine has not been started in a long long time..

i also tend to pull the oil filter.. and crank the engine with fresh oil and the remote starter button under the car.. so i can see the first shot of oil from the filter mount.. then screw the filter on and crank from the drivers seat till the oil pressure comes up.. thats usually just a few seconds if you have prefilled the filter.. if you prefill the filter and have not primed the pump with a filterless cranking procedure.. you will cause an air lock and will be really hard to prime it.. this works really great on crank snout mounted oil pumps also.. on LS motors and others. allows the pump to easily pickup the motor oil and push it thru the pump without any thing blocking it..

i even used a hand vacuum pump on a 429 cad one time to assist in priming the pump.. applying vacuum to the filter mount.. until i got oil and then cranked. then the filter and more cranking.. worked great. .

any rust on the cam is going to need to be burnished off with a break in style engine at 2000 + RPMs for the first 5 or 10 minutes.. the oil sling off the rod journals and dribbles off the sides of the lifters will really help..

be sure to drain the first run oil into a totally clean drain pan.. and split the filter open to check for rust in the media.. dip a magnet in a ziplock bag to see if any rust sticks to the outside of the magnet on the bag..

keep track of the engine over the next few weeks of operation.. to see if you have lost a cam lobe..

i have done engine starts after a decade or two of storage a few times.. usually on old caddys..

tomslik · February 03, 2014, 05:58:49 AM

hey, one thing you might want to check is to see if the valves are sticking too.

had that issue on my 64 rambler (it sit for about that long)...kept bending pushrods but it MAY have been the 15 year old fuel in the tank,too.

btw, I was under the impression you couldn't get a drill on the priming distributor and that's the reason for my overfilling statement

39deluxe · February 04, 2014, 01:07:53 PM

I've started engines that have sat for longer than that before using the belief that if it turns it will start. It seems that about everyone that is in the habit of pulling old cars out of long term storage has their own favorite oils to lube the cylinders before trying to turn it over and start it. It is usually a thin oil like Marvel Mystery Oil squirted through the spark plug holes. Turn it over by hand a few times to lube the cylinder walls and rings. If there is rust on the bores you will be able to feel it as the rings pass the spot where they had been sitting for years. If it was stored inside and dry I would then just light her off. If the oil wasn't changed after that 30 mile break in I'd change the oil first.

If it was stored in a damp environment I'd pull it apart just to be safe.

Tom