Starting procedures for stored camaro......

[Mr. T]

A buddy of mine just bought a 70 Camaro. It has been in storage for 3-4 years without being started. I told him before he tries to start it to pull the plugs and squirt a little bit of motor oil into each cylinder and maybe drain the gas tank. What else? Thanks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[DjD]

My car had sat for almost 2yrs when I got it. Here's the routine I recomend.

Remove carb and rebuild. Old gas turns to varnish in it and the gaskets will be brittle and most likely leak. Mine was like a sprinkler!!

Replace all fluids, (water for now in the radiator in case there's a leak) not just the crank case, do the trans and rear too!!

New plugs and that squirt of light oil in each hole is a good idea.

New points too and set the #1 cyl to about 10 degs BTDC and turn the dist until you find the point where the points just open and lock the dist down. This way if you fill the float bowls it should fire as soom as it's cranked.

Pre-lube it like a new engine before first fire as well...

With any luck the tank is almost empty so you can add some fuel stabilizer and about 5 gals of fresh gas. The only reason I don't recomend draining it, is what are you going to do with 17 gals of toxic waste?

Make sure the plug wires are in good shape and you have a strong battery and have at it. You may also want to find out if it was running when it was parked. If not you need to be ready to trouble shoot an old problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[Pantera]

Fresh Oil & filter - pull plugs squirt oil in the cyl. I also squirt some of the oil down the accelerator pump shaft to lube it just in case it dried up. Try to not use the gas in the tank if you can. If you do then be very sure that you have a paper inline filter in the gas line before the fuel pump.

I use a 5 gal fuel tank that I can set on the fender or next to the car up high so that it feeds clean gas to the carb. The reason I use the aux gas tank is because of rust in the gas tank and that can be a huge problem with a car that was setting for a long time. Usually the fuel pump will not work or will leak. Then crank the motor through for a while till you see oil pressure on the gauges. Reinstall the plugs and give it a try. After it is running then you can tend to the water system. Just don't let it set and run with out watching for signs that it is overheating.

Just remember -above all be sure to have a fully charged fire ext. handy.

[72Heaven]

Well, I had a '71 that had been sitting for nearly 20 years because of a "bad" engine. It turned out to be a seized starter...

Anyway, all I did was change the oil (and the starter)
drop on a new carb (someone had helped themselves to the old one) and put in a battery.

It did run.
It fired two mice out of the exhaust (along with their homes, although the front end of a Suburban made sure they weren't homeless for long, ie, splat!)
the fuel system leaked horribly, all the rubber was shot.
The rings were stuck on two cylinders it burned some oil.
It didn't idle well with 20 year old gas. lots of smoke.
It stopped idling.

I replaced the fuel pump and rubber lines, cleaned the plugs and replaced the fuel filters.
Ran again.

Topped off the tank
Took it for a 200mile trip.
It used an excessive amount of oil and I had to rebleed the brakes (I had swapped on safe tires before the trip)

What I was most surprised at was the lack of tranny leaks, usually the autos leak after sitting and a pan gasket (at least) is in order.

What deteriorated in short order was the rubber bushings (including all the frontend stuff) the flex lines for the brakes, all the underhood vacuum lines, the belts and a number of fuel filters. Finally, the rear axle seals went. The radiator was dry and the those hoses stayed solid but the heater hoses did get "looped"

Of course 20 years is alot longer than what you have.

I guess my advice is to closely check all hoses (inside and out). A fire isn't any fun. First make sure the engine is "free." Actually go through the whole fuel system, change the oil and let 'er rip! (unless the engine is something super-great then I'd worry about pre-lubing! which really is a good idea, I'm just lazy)