Learn Me: Starting an engine after dormant for 14 years....

Hi guys - due to a combination of late night GRM'ing and a desire to vaporize all available spare time and money, I found myself the proud owner of this:

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While largely complete and "as raced", the last time it was tech'd per the logbook was 2002. It appears to have been largely kept indoors, but I don't know how it was put away for storage, if the engine has been turned over since G.W. Bush was in the White House, etc. I'd like to try to see if it will at least fire up this weekend, but don't want to do any irreparable harm in the process. Here's my thoughts:

• Pull the plugs, squirt some fogging oil into the cylinders to lube things up
• Pull the fuel line at the carb, replace with new hose and connect to a test tank (fuel cell is long since expired and I would assume bladder has turned to goo....on the list to replace)
• Change the oil and filter. This will be more fun than it should be, since after 3 days of staring at the engine, I'm coming to the realization that the Hamburger racing oil pan doesn't have a dipstick. Their site shows a 7 qt capacity, but there's also an Accusump plumbed in. I'm going to try to block off the Accumsump for the time being and just fill with 7 qts of cheap 20W-50 and a cheap filter, with the expectation of changing out to better stuff after a few start/stop cycles.
• I may (should?) drain and fill the coolant, but I don't think I'll be running it long enough to matter.
• Pull the ignition coil wire, use the new battery to hopefully turn it over a few times, then reconnect the coil, hook up the guzzoline, say a few "Hail Marys", and go for broke.

I've already bought some hose to replace the vacuum line from the carb to the brake booster to give it a chance to idle. If it goes as simply as the points above, that would be all kinds of awesome...I'm not expecting it, but one can dream.

What says the hive about waking up a built 305 from a very extended nap? Any other tips, tricks, recommendations?

Thanks!

That is basically the same procedure I followed when I woke up the $100 BMW 2002. I would say you are on the right track.

Yep basically you covered it. I would run water not coolant for start up. I really don't like running a motor with out coolant. I read some place you can do damage quickly with out the coolant. Somthing about even heating and hot spots etc. Also if it gets running it would be good to let it get to temp.

Only thing I can add to your start up is pull the valve covers and with the plugs out spin the motor and verify you are getting oil up to the rockers.

That is basically the same procedure I followed when I fired my LS400 motor earlier this year. It had not run since 2000.

The only thing I would add is that I prefer to turn the engine over by hand initially so I can feel if anything seems to be binding/interfering/whatever before I spin it with the starter.

Thanks guys - much appreciated! Allegedly, the motor only has 20-25 hours on it since a full rebuild (back in 1997!), but who knows what we're going to find. In a perfect world, fresh fluids and it will spin right up. I'm hoping it wasn't parked due to a money shift that lunched the motor, but rotating by hand may be the right option to see if anything goes clang first.

Waiting...

Your process is pretty good in my mind. I'd spin it by hand with the plugs out before you fire it off though. That'll make sure it rotates freely and it'll push any excess fogging oil out of the cylinders so that you don't foul the plugs immediately when you try to start it.

Curious, why such a thick oil? I would have thought a lighter oil would get circulating much easier. You are going to dump it out in a short while anyway.

good discussion. I have a 2.0 16V VW motor in a project car that last ran about 10 years ago that I've acquired. Was curious appropriate "don't hurt the motor" things to do as well before attempting to fire it.

Why not pull the distributor and spin the oil pump with a drill, with valve covers off to verify that EVERYTHING gets an oil fill, before you crank it for the first time? This is what I have down in the past. Plus the cylinder wall fogging.

WildScotsRacing wrote: Why not pull the distributor and spin the oil pump with a drill, with valve covers off to verify that EVERYTHING gets an oil fill, before you crank it for the first time? This is what I have down in the past. Plus the cylinder wall fogging.

I'd agree with this. If it's not feasible, maybe pull the valve covers, and squirt some oil onto the valve train and down the pushrod holes so there's at least a little bit of lubrication when you start it up.

Fire extinguisher

Don't change the oil until it's running(oil oil>trying to reestablish prime on an already dry motor). Is there oil/pressure in the accusump still? I'd do the first two points, roll it over by hand 2 revs to check for issues, prime the oil system if possible (especially if flat tappet cam), fill carb bowl with fuel through vent, splash a little down the bore and hit the start button.

Karl La Follette wrote: Fire extinguisher

Always the practical one, Karl.

My only add is to turn the crank by hand while spinning the oil pump, so everything gets to move (and be lubed) under zero load.

Thinking about it, if you can't prime the oil pump manually, then do the first crank with the plugs out. That'll reduce the load on the bearings (although not the valvetrain) while it gets some oil flowing.

AngryCorvair wrote: My only add is to turn the crank by hand while spinning the oil pump, so everything gets to move (and be lubed) under zero load.

Just to explain, a SBC (and most push rod engines) won't oil the rockers unless the cam is rotating to line up the oil hole in each lifter with the oil hole in each lifter bore.

Thanks guys. I'm completely unfamiliar with pushrod SBCs, but have come across spinning the oil pump to prime the engine in some of my research. it looks there's a tool to accomplish such a thing, but any GRM-friendly solutions to avoid buying what (I hope) would be a one-use tool? Looking at the motor build sheet, I think it's got a Melling high volume oil pump and there's an Accel dizzy, if that matters. I've been thinking about pulling the valve covers and giving everything a good squirt to get oil in the top end, but if I can figure out how to get the pump spinning, I'd also be able to see if oil is getting up into the rockers.

When/if priming the oil pump, does the crank just need to be turned every half minute to align the oil holes, or is that a continuous thing?

On oil, 20W-50 is what was listed in the build sheet, so figured I'd just stick with it. I've been reading horror stories about the lack of ZDDP in new oils on flat tappet cams....the last thing I want to start is an oil thread, but given the limited run time I expect to be on this oil and filter, I'm assuming I don't have to worry about wiping out a cam? I've also been considering Rotella 15W-40 for the clean-out process...again, not sure it matters much in the short term as long as it's clean and lubricates. If this is a disaster waiting to happen, lemme know? I may eventually move to Valvoline VR-1, which allegedly has a higher zinc content, once this thing is up and running (note boundless optimism here).

There's less than 10psi in the Accusump, which should mean all the oil is pushed out and back in the pan. I spoke with the guys at Accusump this morning about how to ensure that thing is drained and shutoff. I'll test that for pressure when the time comes, but don't want to introduce too many variables. Ironically, according to them, it would be the perfect way to pressurize oil into the engine at startup if it was filled and pressurized; I'm just not confident enough in usage of it yet.

I'm hoping to be able to spin wrenches tomorrow and/or Sunday, so with any luck, we'll know the rest of story shortly!

Rotella should have plenty of ZDDP to keep it happy if it doesn't have a totally insane flat tappet cam setup. And it's much cheaper than the fancy oils, especially when it's going to be dumped after a few minutes of use.

The ZDDP thing has kinda gotten blown out of proportion by the internet. As I recall from reading, in the early 1960s when problems with flat tappet cams and high spring pressures were being found, it was found that something like 900ppm was sufficient to protect the most agressive factory cams of the day, and that's what oil of the mid-late 60s contained. More was added in the 70s (full blown low output smog motor era) exclusively as a cheap antioxidant. This can be somewhat corroborated with how the whole flat cam problem only popped back up when API SM came out and run of the mill 10w30 dropped to 800 ppm or less. The ~1200 in current diesel oil is plenty good, somewhere around 1600+ you actually start running into all sorts of fun (engine destroying) problems.

Here's a recent analysis of all the common diesel oils with zinc levels. http://www.pqiamerica.com/June%202014/consolidated%20HDEO%202015.html

You can make a priming tool (that many argue is better built than most you can buy) by gutting an old distributor and spinning it with a drill. The primer tools that just give you a shaft are no good, that grooved area on the distributor and better priming tools is part of one of the oil galleys. I think you only get oil to the crank with those.

Also remove the gear from the distributor-turned-primer or it won't spin, LOL.

jstein77 wrote:

Karl La Follette wrote: Fire extinguisher

Always the practical one, Karl.

It's a SBC. I'd pull the plugs, spin it over until it built a little oil pressure, reinstall the plugs, add fresh gas, and fire it up. Then run it up to temperature, shut it down and change the oil.

Excited to see this thing fire back to life.