You might want to check the fuel pump relay. It should be in the driver's side floorboard. My car sat in storage for a long time, and I believe my relay went bad. If I had to guess, I would say the fuel pump is going to be seized. Did the car have any gas in the tank while it was sitting in the barn?

If you want it to run, or run good, you might have to replace a lot of stuff. That was the case for me at least. When I finally got my car started, it was firing on maybe two cylinders. Most of my injectors were seized. And that's just one example of stuff that needed to be replaced. You may not be that interested in getting it running since you bought it for parts.

 

wouldnt the fuel pump feed wire under the hood bypass the fuel pump relay?

Sounds like without it running your still going to get 400$ worth of parts out of it.

Did you try to jump the starter with the key on?

 

I believe it does bypass the relay. I overlooked that detail.

 

There was some gas in the tank when I got it. How much it had when parked is any ones guess. I mainly want to get it running before I pull it apart just to see what I have. The motor will get rebuilt before going in the Z28. Also to see if the electronic side of things are ok. That way I'm not chasing my tail after it's swapped in. If I know it ran before coming out, and it doesn't after...that sort of helps with tracking down a problem. It's not a huge deal if I can't get it to fire up.


No I didn't. I did test for, and got power to the "S" terminal/purple wire though when in the crank position though. It isn't too hard to put a different starter in. It's still on my trailer so it's not like I'm laying on the cold wet ground.



Weather guy was right, cold and windy today. Looks like I'll be working on the 3rd gen in the warm garage today. Maybe start pulling the seats and dash out of that.

 

I would gut it, every thing that can be unbolted sold and then let the body minus glass go for scrap.

 

That's what is eventually going to happen. Going to try to break even or come out ahead when it's all said and done. Not going to get my hopes to high though.

 

Bringing this back to the top.

Finally had some free time the last few days to mess with this. Back when I picked it up in January I couldn't get it to crank over or the fuel pump to come on. Pull the starter out and it was junk. Would kick out but not spin. Tossed a spare that I had laying around in. It was a much larger one, made for a hard time installing it. Car is 100% stock, right down to the y-pipe and trans line running under the starter. But I got it in there and it still wouldn't crank with the key (possibly the exact reason the car was parked to begin with). It did crank by running a wire directly to the "s" terminal though. Cranks over nice and fast...way faster than my 97.

Just to see if it would fire, I shot some carb clean down the throttle body and cranked it over. Motor fired right up like it had been driven yesterday. Did this a few times to listen for knocks (none). I wanted to check the oil pressure but due to how I had to start it I couldn't be in the car nor get into it fast enough to read the gauge.

A couple days later I tackled the pump.

The fuel pump has never made any noise that I could hear. Powering up the prime connector did nothing. I removed the kick panel and tested the relay. Relay checked out good, came on briefly with the key. Jumped it just to be sure and still nothing. Was planning on testing back at the tank but it turns out I didn't need to. Had a friend stop over while I was working on it. Went to crank it over for him and it fired up and ran for a few seconds. Knowing I hadn't sprayed anything in there recently, I figured the pump may actually be trying to run. Dumped some gas in (probably should have done this first) and bumped it over again. Started then stalled, did that a few times and eventually it stayed running.

Let it warm up a few minutes then checked the gauges. Oil was holding steady at 60psi, shoots up when reving it. Coolant was reading normal. Voltage wasn't doing anything as I had cut the belt off. Engine runs very well/smooth for not having be touched for 5+ years. Idles a tad high (1100rpm) but overall I'm impressed with it. Will try taking it for a quick spin before I pull it out just to see how well it runs under load and to check the condition of the trans.

 

they tryed and did pop the dents out like a pro. lol

 

So did you drain the old gas? I wouldn't run it long or the ethanol in the gas which is probably goo by now and any small particles of rust in the tank can clog your injectors. Since the body is junk (or perfect race car material however you look at it) I'd do the trap door mod, pull the pump, stick a shop vac hose down there and suck all the crap out, clean the sock, pour fresh gas in and beat the **** out of it for a while to blow the cobwebs out.

Great find man, I vote race car!

 

I didn't drain anything out of it yet. I'm guessing whatever was in the tank had gummed up long ago. The car is strictly for parts (had someone interested in the body but I set them up with a clean 86 Z28) a few for my 97, some for the 88 and a couple for the 78. The motor will be gone through before being dropped into anything. New injectors are on that list as well...I'm already considering the fuel pump in there junk. Getting it running before pulling was mainly to see if there were any major issues with it. I totally understand where you are coming from though. And, if I didn't have some many other projects going on right now I'd do a drag car out of it.

 

Yea trap door is free and quick, just cut a big *** hole carefully, pull it out, clean it and reinstall. I always like to beat on a motor before making conclusions, take it through the entire rpm range and find issues now before doing the swap, less headaches later.

 

^^^^TRUTH^^^^

If you have the opportunity to, this is what you gotta do when going with a used engine if you're not gonna rebuild it!

KW

 

Holy sketchy trailer...

 

I did the trap door on my 94 TA a few years ago, so I know what that's all about. Think I had the new pump in and running in less than an hour. As I said before, motor will be torn down before going into anything. Running and driving it is just to see if there were any major flaws.



That trailer isn't that bad really. You should have seen the other one I could have used. Not bad for the $400 it cost. lol

 

Just an update on where this motor went. A quick trip to the machine shop left me with a clean block and polished crank. New rod bolts, rings, bearings, cc503 (waiting on springs and roller rockers still), timing chain, Impala gaskets, etc. Hooked it to a T56 I scored off of craigslist. Car is an 82 Z28 with 88 Iroc ground effects/front end. Koni's all the way around, Eibach pro-kit, UMI sfcs/lower control arms/PHB, 36mm hollow front bar, 24mm solid rear, 8pt roll bar to help stiffen the car as well. Rear end is out of the Formula but has Ls1 discs, front has 14" 5th gen rotors with CTSV calipers. Wheels should come in tomorrow...18x10.5 DD C5's. Still have a ton of parts to gather but it's getting there. Should make a fun driver.








The intake is just sitting on there right now. I won one of Bumper Dragin Bird's carb intakes off ebay. Will probably use that just so I don't have to clutter up the bay with all of the wiring.

 

Very nice!