happysem

iTrader: (5)

My dad's got a 74 Corvette Stingray (350) mostly stock but its been sitting in the garage and hasn't moved or started in about 5 years, we're moving and would like to drive the car to the new house.

What all should I do to get it running?
He said it ran great before we just left it in the garage and practically forgot about it.

I was thinking:

Change oil/filters
Drain gas/new gas
Pull carburetor and clean (its been rebuilt before, but I don't think it would need it?)
New battery
Maybe plugs/wires?
and hopes and dreams with some starter fluid

What else would you guys do?

Fireberg

After you pull the plugs out, it wouldn't hurt to put a small squirt of oil into the spark plug holes and then use a socket wrench to rotate the engine by hand. This will ensure that every thing is free on the inside, and that the head gaskets have not rusted and allowed water to leak into the cylinders.

Also does the engine use a points style distributor or was it converted to HEI?
Points can give you a headache if you are not familiar with them.

Good luck and have fun!
Also - Go real easy on the starter fluid; if all is right you shouldn't need any. Gasoline vaporizes pretty well on its own in the heat of Texas summers.

fleetmgr

All that you've mentioned is a good idea. Things I'd do in addition:
1. Prime the engine oil system before you ever turn it over. The bearings are all bone dry at this point.
2. Rebuild the carb...it's GONNA leak. Be prepared to replace the fuel pump.
3. Repack the wheel bearings.
4. Change ALL other fluids...tranny, diff, brake (including what's in the lines, calipers etc), coolant.
5. Expect flat spots on the tires.
6. Run the rear wheels at low speed with the car on stands so there is NO load on the rearend. You can't prime axle bearings, but running them with no load until the new gear oil works it's way out there is the next best thing. Remember, these will be dry too.

Keep away from the starter fluid, you don't need it.

happysem

iTrader: (5)

Thanks guys, I'll stay off the starter fluid then.

The car was inside the garage the whole time so I don't think the head gaskets rusting could have happened, our garage stays VERY dry lol, very hot as well.

I doubt the car has been converted to HEI (I don't even know what that is anyway lol)

How can you prime the oil system?

The tires are going to be junk, so we'll just get rid of them after driving the 2 miles to the new house, I'm really doing this to get him motivated to either work on it together or give it to someone to do a full restoration, I'm tired of it sitting there lol.

What is needed to rebuild a carb?
I've taken apart mine on my 4wheeler, but I'm sure its slightly different.

fleetmgr

HEI stands for High Energy Ignition, and was GM's original effort at an all electronic ignition (and not bad one, either). If it's all original, then it hasn't been converted. Pull the distributor cap off, and look for points and a condenser. You should see something that looks like this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CBYQ9QEwAA

The normal method is to pull the distributor, and put an oil priming shaft in its place. This shaft gets spun with a drill motor to get oil all the way through the engine before turning it over with the starter. You can also tap into the oil system with an oil accumulator, accomplishes the same thing but costs a lot more.

You'll need a carb kit for a Rochester Quadrajet. If you don't know what you're doing, take the carb to someone that does. A QJet isn't a beginners carb.