So this last weekend I came across a 1974 Camaro sitting in a barn. The barn it was stored in was the brother of the owner. The brother told me that the car had been sitting in this barn for the last 15 years. It hasn't been started since then. The only thing I can tell is that the body seems pretty decent. No rust that I can tell of. It is a stick and has a 350 under the hood. I am really interested in this car and want to know peoples suggestions on what I should do next? Like, try and start it. If so should i change oil first? What should I check? How much should I offer?(Ballpark estimate) I have never had a barn find before and I have no idea what to do. Give me all the info you can!

 

Not enough info to tell you what to offer. Pretty decent body just isn't enough info. Model? You mentioned stick; 4spd, 3 spd, ? How's the interior? Tires, wheels, etc......
As for what to do before you start it; there's a lot to do. Need to probably pull the gas tank to flush it, pull the carb and replace gaskets, seals, or maybe even the carb. Flush the fuel lines. Pull the valve covers and use a rubber hammer to tap the valve end of the rockers to see the valves move and aren't stuck. Crank the engine over without coil wire to see it's free. Pull plugs and shoot a little oil in each cylinder, then do a compression check on each cyl. Change the oil and filter. Put in a good battery. Now you can check for spark, and if it's there fire it up.
Mine sat for 10-11 yrs. and you wouldn't believe what came out of the fuel lines, and carb. I didn't have to do all this because I rebuilt the motor, but did do all the fuel stuff.

 

Basically you'd be buying a non-running car, with no guarantee that the engine will run without needing work. It may need a rebuild, or you might get extremely lucky and it will fire up with no issues after doing the above. Is the clutch any good? You can't know till you try it out. Why was it parked 15 years ago? For the work it may need, you have to figure worse case scenario, and base the offer on that. And as always, pictures would be helpful here.

 

Long story short the owner got a divorce 15 years ago and he needed to put the car somewhere and his brothers barn was the only place. He said it would only be there 6 months and now it has been 15 years. I can hopefully go get some pictures of it this weekend and post them on here.

 

Speaking of clutches, that's another thing that needs to be checked before firing. Just push it in and crank the engine a bit to ensure it's not stuck to the flywheel or pressure plate!

 

So the fuel lines and carb things seem like pretty easy tasks. Should I do the valve covers thing and crank the engine before even placing an offer? These people aren't exactly strangers so I could spend some time looking over the car before even offering. Maybe a dumb question but since I haven't done this before but I want to really get into classic cars how do you crank the engine over without a coil wire and check the compression? Give a little explanation. Like you were talking to a mildly trained car guy.

 

Pull the coil wire loose. It wont stop the engine from cranking, it just keeps it from trying to fire. I don't believe that has HEI, so just pull the plug wire from coil to cap, but if it has HEI, then unplug the distributor 12 v. leads.

 

Oh, and I wouldn't do too much before working a deal. If you go through all the work and get it running, it will just make them raise the price. I'd offer as if it doesn't run, then hope for the best.

 

I would pull the plug and spray some PB Blaster in all the cylinders. Then put the plugs back in and let it sit for a couple days and the try and roll it over. This is only after looking for pudding in the oil and oil in the water.

 

Yes, definitely. I wouldn't do anything major. Just kinda basic little check overs just to make sure there aren't any major things and then hope for the best after that.

Also, those of you who would want to see pictures of it to help me with a price quote or just thoughts on what I should do just check back once in a while. I am hoping to go and get some pictures soon. I told the guy I would like some. So either he will send me some soon or within the next two weeks I will take a trip and get some.