Hey guys...

My 68 camaro has been sitting in my garage for the past two years, and I am finally ready to get it fired up again. My only concern is how long it has been, and I was wondering if there is anything I should do before trying to start it up again. Any precautions or preps I can do in advance or should I just start it up again? Its a 396ci bb (4brl holley) and wasCOMPLETELY rebuilt about 4 years ago with new pistons, rings, bearings, camshaft, lifters, etc.

Thanks in advance!
Josh

 

All the working surfaces are probably dry by now, so you should treat it as newly assembled engine. Give it a fresh fill of oil, a new filter, and fresh gas. Take out the plugs and spray some lubricant into the cylinder, remove the distributor and spin the oil pump with a drill motor to get all parts lubricated. Make sure the distributor is timed properly, and the carb properly set so that the engine starts up wit minimum cranking.You don't want prolonged cranking and risk washing the lube off the cylinder walls, and running the bearings dry.

 

Well the car ran strong before I shut it down so I'm assuming the carb is still set-up well. Two quick questions...should I use regular motor oil to spray in the cylinders or do they make something special for that...and how long should I turn over the oil pump?

Thanks pete....

 

Most any decent lubricant will wok to sparay into the cyliders, but you can use some special lube such as Torco spray lube. http://www.torcoracingoils.com/techn...Spray_Lube.pdf, but I had good results with WD40. It is only needed till the engine catches and starts spraying oil around. As for priming, depends how fast the drill motor can spin the pump, but once it reaches a steady pressure on the pressure gauge another 2-4 minutes should do the trick.