starting an engine

S

steve fritz

Well-known member
Need some ideas on the best way to restart an old y-block that has not been run for 10 years or more. It has been stored inside, out of the weather elements, but I'm still a little leary on just cranking on it. I don't think it was oiled up or anything special done to it before it was stored. It has lots of miles on it, but the top end , rockers , springs and push rods all look good. Not a lot of gunk under the valve covers.
Should I pull the plugs and squirt some oil in all the cyliners ? Dump anything down the carb first?
I did turn the crank just a bit to be sure it wasn't seized. Someone said to pull the distributor and run a socket extension down to the oil pump and run a drill to run the oil pump for a few minutes, watching for oil to come up to the heads.
Any ideas or experience doing this would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
I would use Mavel Mystery Oil in the cylinders. Pull the plugs, squirt a little in each hole and turn by hand. Do that a couple of days two to three times a day. Change the oil and filter, do the drill thing to prime the pump and filter, turn the engine by hand for several revolutions while priming. Make sure oil is coming to the top side, if not pull the rocker shaft and see if you have oil coming up the gallery. When oil is up put the distributor back in and set the timing to 10 before, hook up a battery and spin the motor with the starter to move the pistons and rings around. Plugs in, wired and run it. Stand back and rid your shop of any bugs! Try to lube up the water pump seal before you fire it up.
 
IF it has a cross-drilled camshaft the oil wont flow to heads until the holes in the cam journals line up with the holes in the block. You may have to turn the engine over by hand to make that happen. Chances are it doesnt have a cross-drilled camshaft but its just something to keep in mind.
 
If you use a 1/4 drive socket on an extension to spin the oil pump, tape the socket on so it cant fall in the engine.
 
While turning the engine over by hand with the valve covers off, observe that the valves are opening and closing to ensure they are not stuck. More than one push rod has been bent by a stuck valve. Squirt a little of your Marvel Mystery Oil on the valve stems to help loosen up and lubricate.
 
Connect the fuel pump to a can of gas rather than using the gas tank. There is liable to be all sorts of crap in the tank.
 
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