looking at a 1977 trans am, it has been sitting for 10 years, said it ran when it was put there, what does it need to just start? can pick it up for less than a G

 

Fog the heads and then give it a shot? Maybe turn it over a couple of cranks by hand before hitting the starter? What's the worst that happens, you turn it over, a rod comes through the block, you decide not to buy it?

 

Throw some jumper cables to the battery, and disconnect the power to the dist'. Check the oil.. and turn it over a few times like that to get oil on the rotating assembly. Then plug the dist' back in and start her up.
Oh yah.. the gas is very likely no good anymore... depending on how much is in the tank, you might be able to fill it up with a jerry can and dilute the old crap.

 

The fuel is definitely toast. You are going to need to drain the tank, lines and AT LEAST put a new fuel filter in it before you ever even try to turn the key (that is, if you intend to actually START the motor). Chances are the carb will be in need of a complete rebuild (old gas crud + dried out gaskets = no fun). That's probably more work that you want to try in some seller's back yard. I'd just put a fresh battery in it, make sure whatever oil is in the motor is up to full, disconnect the ignition and see if it's turns over. If it's locked up from sitting it won't turn. If it spins you've probably got a fair shot at a good motor. On stuff like this I bring a compression gague and see if all 8 cylinders have compression as a rough indicator of the engine's overall condition.

When I get them home I do the complete fuel system flush/carb rebuild I described, above along with a complete ignition tune-up. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor AND A FRESH COIL. New belts will come soon after (when the old ones shred 5 minutes after startup due to dryrot) and then new hoses. Everything rubber will be seriously degraded unless it was indoors in a climate controlled room.

Trust me, there's a REASON the seller parked it 10 years ago. Chances are it's not becuase he just didn't feel like driving it any more.