SO, my Mom has a '78 LT that has been sitting in the garage for over 20 years. Long story short, she ran it w/out oil, and my Dad rebuilt the engine, never cranked it.

Now we are going to have to move it soon, as we are moving. I want to take on this project this summer. I would like to know what should be checked/replaced before trying to get it started. I am pretty sure the hoses and fluids all need to be changed. But I was wondering if i should open up the engine? It has never been started, and should be fine. It still needs a carb, some electrical, and other misc work from what I can gather.

I snapped some pics last summer, it has since been cleaned up a bit:
1
2
3
4
5

This is likely going to be an ongoing thing, so I will definitely ave some question for you guys later. Thanks a ton.

--Dave

 

wow, 20 years is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time to have an engine sit. I built mine and it sat for about a year. All I did was visually check everything over, and prime the oil before starting, and I have had no ill side-effects (knock on wood). I would check all the hoses, and then prime the oil pump before starting. Mayeb turn it over a few times manually to ensure all is turnable in there.

 

the car I just got had been sitting for about the same time. I just drained the gas, and oil and changed it. none of the other fluids shoudl pose a problem just starting it, however, if you plan to drive it the brake fluid should probably be changed, and obviously make sure the hoses, belts, trans fluid, rad fluid, rear end fluid, and p/s fluid are in good cond and full...

 

You have nothing to loose if you do the following since if you do fire it up and lose a bearing or a cylinder you will have to rip it apart anyways. If you know what to do than I apologize for stating to some of the obvious.

1) remove sparks plugs and spray in lots and lots of WD40 or a good pen. oil in each cylinder let sit for a day or two. Add the wd a few times to keep it good and wet I would fill the cylinders up as if the engine will turn over you can spray most of it out later.

2) While letting the WD work drain the oil and change the filter and oil

3) Drain the fuel tank and put in some fresh fuel, you may want to put some fuel stabilizer in the fuel and mix it at about 4 times the reccommeded amount add only about 3 or 4 gallons of fuel to the tank. That way if it does start the fuel stabilizer may help un gum the carb a bit to get the engine to run good enough to see if it is ok (oil pressure, knocks, etc. etc)

4) check the antifreeze in the rad and for now I would just make sure it is topped off.

5) check to see if the water pump will turn.

6) check the hoses but if not that bad I wouldn't change any just yet. If the engine fires up and is OK than change the hoses but if it fires up and has major problems it will have to come out anyways and you can put in new hoses when it goes back in.

7) once the WD has worked see if you move the engine by hand and turn it over. Hopefully your Dad used assembly lub when he put the engine back together you may want to ask him.

8) when turning the engine over by hand have the distributor cap pulled and see if the rotor is turning. I wouldn't turn the engine too much as if everyhting is OK and your Dad didn't use copius amounts of assembly lub you probably will want to prime the oil pump and try and lub what you can.

9) put in a new set of plugs, hook everything up and try the engine. if you get it running and it runs smooth enough try and warm it up checking for oil pressure, and bad sounds. If all goes well you can shut it down check the compression and if good compression, good oil pressure and does not over heat you may be OK.

10) drain coolant flush and put in new coolant. change oil & filter again

20 years is a long time so good luck with the above, if you have time you are probably better to pull the engine dissmantle it and check as if everything is ok you are really just looking at a gasket set. If you take a chance you stil run the risk of scorring a cyclinder wall, scoring your crank journals, cam surfaces.

Anyways I know it was long but that is what I would do I have probably missed something but someone will add I am sure. Lets us know and keep us posted as I would like to here how things go as over 20 years if you fire her up and she purrs it would pretty cool.

 

Im sorry But I wouldnt put a lot of wd-40 or oil in the cylinders before the start up,Your taking a real chance on that fresh engines rings not seating with that much lubrication.Pull the plugs and lightly spray each cylinder with wd-40 pre prime the oil pump and turn it over by hand.You should be good at that point.No disrespect I have seen many new engines with serious blow bye due to soaking the cylinders with oil during the build the first few minutes of run time are crucial to the seating of the rings and if they are lubed up they wont seat,sealed power suggests a light coating of machine oil during assembly.

 

Definitely no disrespect taken in your reply, in fact just the opposite as that is what this forum is for, a good exchange of helpful info.

I would definitely agree on a fresh engine not to douse it with lubricant like penetrating oil but this fresh engine has been sitting for 20 years. I would be worried about rust forming and possibly the rings being seized to the cylinder wall or stuck on the pistons????? I would be trying to ensure that a stuck ring doesn't cause permanent damage.

I have never played with an engine that has sat for 20 years so I am quite interested in this thread to see how this engine survives.

 

funny you bring it up.. My dad has a 78 z that i just started working on. I started the engine today finally, me and a freind, its been sittin for about 2 years. its got alot of work to be done though.