Advice resurrecting 350?

[chevy_fatman]

I recently got me a '70 chevy shortbed, it has a 350 4 bolt main and a 350 turbo tranny, does not run as the battery is almost dead, truck has been sitting for around 4 years and it has not been started at all since then, the motor turns easy, I'm going to change oil, remove ol' stale gas and put some fresh gas in a replacement tank, and of course get a fresh battery for it, is there something else I should do to get it going as I don't want to mess the motor if it's any good.
Thank you for any replies at all.

[mikep]

Be careful here. The rings have probably taken a set in the ring lands and when you turn it over you'll be pumping volatile gas laden fumes into the crankcase and when it lights off it'll go boom. I can show a pair of ballooned valve covers if you dont believe me also from a car that had been sitting 4 years. Best bet is to pull the spark plugs and shoot a few squirts of a medium grade oil into each cylinder to help the rings to seal before you fire it up. Also you'll want to pull the distributor and prime the oil pump and bearings with a priming tool. There all dry as a bone right now and unless you get some oil on them you'll get 10,000 miles with of wear in about 10 seconds. I'd also change the oil in the pan before I'd start it. Lots of condensation in 4 years of sitting.

You may end up changing valve seals if they have gotten hard. Sitting for long periods is the worst thing you can do to an engine.

[chevy_fatman]

Thanks for the quick reply mikep, how do I go in removing the distributor? also where can I get a good priming tool? I'm a little mechanically challenged, but I don't mind getting down and dirty to work on my ol' truck, Thank you

[mikep]

Sears or any parts store will have a priming tool. Ask the counter guys. They'll know what it is. You'll want to

1. pull your plugs. squirt your oil into the cylinders
2. turn the engine over by hand until you start to come up on #1 cyl compression stroke. You'll know this because when you put your finger in the spark plug hole it'll blow past your finger. when this happens continue to turn the engine over by hand until you get to the timing mark on TDC . Now you are at #1 cyl TDC. Mark the rotor position relative to the distributor housing and relative to another reference point off the distributor ie draw a straight line off the rotor onto the radiator support or something like that. Mark that point.
3. remove the bolt that holds the distributor clamp down. after marking where the spark plug and power supply wires go ( had to throw that in ) remove the wires and pull out the distributor. You probably have to do the old twist and pull action to get it out. Old distributors can be difficult but they do come out.
4. After changing the oil insert the priming tool into the distributor bore and plop it into the oil pump drive slot recess . Now turn the priming tool with a big drill on hi speed. have someone turn the engine over for 30 seconds or so.
5. pull the priming too out. bring the motor around to #1 TDC again drop the distributor into its bore and make sure the marks all line up. The distributor gear is helical cut and you will have to anticipate which way the rotor turns when you drop it in to get the marks right. Put the clamp back on. Plugs back in ...
5. fire it up. If you have gas in the carb it should light right up. Turning the engine over for 30 seconds while priming should have pumped gas into the bowls . set your timing. It'll probably have a good bit of blow by until the rings take a good set but that'll go away soon.

[67/72junkie]

Good advice Mike.You can also take a plastic oil bottle and put the top off a gear oil bottle on it .With this you can fill the carb up with gas through the vent tube and not have to wait for fuel to pump up to the carb.

[chevypete396]

Might want to change out the coolant as well. If not right away, at least do it before you start driving it around... Pete.

[neonlarry]

Someone offered to give me a truck that has been sitting for 8 months, and I filled it up with oil and coolant, and I tried to get it to start, but the battery goes dead after cranking it for about 30 seconds. I don't mean to hijack this post, but I was wondering what you should do about that. do you hook jumper cables to another car that is running? I have tried 2 different batteries, including the one from my truck, and they did the same thing.

[mikep]

Sounds like it might have been sitting there 8 months for a reason. Probably it sat because it was killing the battery. If its cranking 30 seconds without starting theres other problems and if its draining the battery so fast there are other problems still.

[neonlarry]

Ok, the guy the truck belongs to was driving it, and he said he parked because the t-case is messed up. He said he would give it to me, but I will have to get it running to get it home, because I have no way to tow it. could it be that the timing is off for some reason? it is getting spark, but it won't crank long enough to get gas up to the carb. I am going to try one more time with the plugs out, but if not should I jsut forget it? I cant afford to spend a bunch of money on something I may not ever be alse to get home.

[bigjimzlll]

check the cables....ground to engine and the battery to the starter...if they were at all loose..and sitting..the corrosion can be limiting the connection
Jim

[neonlarry]

the ground cable looks fine, I already have another positive cable I am going to put on it though. It is also missing the red wire from the alt to tthe battery. I know that it won't charge the battery when it is running, but would that affect anything just craking the engine over?

[chevy_fatman]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'll start tearing everything down today and work on it, see what I find Later