305 sitting for years, low coolant and water in oil

[chillman88]

Hey folks,

Short version is this has been sitting for over a decade and there's water in the oil. My first thought is Intake manifold but how should I diagnose properly? Doesn't seem prudent to run it if it's ingesting water but would a compression test be a good indicator on an engine that has sat so long? Coolant is low, radiator is about half full.

Long/extended version with details below....

Technically this is in a car but I wasn't sure where else to ask and the engines are the same so I'm hoping it's ok. 87 Caprice, 305 with the Computer controlled quadrajet.

This car has been sitting since at LEAST 2009. I was told it has been sitting for 19 years but the old man passed in '09 and the last reg expired in 2010. Vehicle has 74k original miles, one owner.

Initial inspection oil looked very clean but overfull. Fired right up with some gas in the carb. Spit and sputtered for a couple seconds then purred like ot was just parked the day before.

I'm going to change the oil and run it for a short time to purge any water from the oil galleys.

Should I just pull the intake and check the gaskets? Fill the radiator and let it warm up while looking for bubbles?

Thanks in advance,
--Chris