Technical Waking up a sleeping 51 Chevy 235

Today's project is to make this old car run. It's been asleep since 1993. It was "running when parked". Rochester Carb was rebuilt last night and this morning I did a compression check. All were 90+psi except #1. It was 60 psi. I just put some MMO in all cylinders for a quick soak and going to check them again in a bit. Gotta rig up an IV for fuel delivery. The engine was not locked up after sitting for 24 years. It turns over freely. This car is pretty much original. I have new ignition parts as well.

 

Good work sir, good work indeed. Now all you need to do is just umm, start it up


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Ummm....yeah! I hope it is that easy!

 

Yeah, almost noon! I bet that ol girl turns about 3 revolutions before firing back to life.

 

I really like that car. Great color and looks like very minimal rust compared to lots and lots of midwest cars around me. It is very rewarding and big fun to take something like that and bring it back to life after all these years. I have brought several Chev 6cyls. back to life in the last 10 years and it always brings a smile to my face......and to all my helpers......"hook up the jumper cables"......."pump the squeeze ball on the temporary fuel line/supply"......."hold the fire extinguisher"........"squirt a little fuel in the carb"......."sit in the car and push the starter button"......."and I will work the throttle" !!! It takes a village !
As a mature person......I hope you can resist the impulse to .......add carbs......install an HEI......convert to 12v........change the cam.......etc. etc.......and then wonder why it won't start. Get it running in it's basic state and then ......have fun.

 

Progress is slow due to the August heat in North Texas. It's right at 100 degrees with 100% humidity it feels like anyway!

I started the process of checking the ignition circuit and I don't have 6 volts to the coil with the ignition switch on, either in park or neutral. This is a Powerglide car. I am not going to trace that problem down at this point. Could be the neutral safety switch. New points and condenser are in, new coil is getting wired directly to the battery for testing purposes. I am going to make sure I have spark before dumping any fuel or starting fluid in the intake. The shadows will soon be in front of the shop so I'm taking a break for a bit and waiting for it to cool down some outside....

 

Tractorguy... this ol car deserves to be left as it is for awhile anyway. It was purchased by the owners back in 1993 and driven home and parked, covered up and there it sat until a few months ago when I drug it and two others out of there. I'm going to do the bare minimum to it to get it safe and drivable, then either buy it or sell it for the widow that currently owns it. The car only has a few surface rust places on it. It is pretty damn clean for being 66 years old and been sitting in a field for the last 24 years.

 

The only other thing to do, is make sure none of the valves are STUCK; that could be part of #1 being low on the compression test. If the valves are free, have at it; it should fire up and run. Are you using a temporary fuel tank, rather than the crud that's probably in the tank and lines. I hear you on the heat! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Where in NO TEX, RMONTY?

Ben

 

Yes......Yes......On the last Chev 6cyl. that I resurrected out of an Oklahoma pasture, I decided to do a compression check before firing up. Luckily I had the valve cover off for a visual inspection. When cranking over, I noticed several rocker arms not moving as much as the others. Several stuck valves. Luckily I had not tried to fire it up.......could have been bent push rod.....broken rocker arm......valve in piston (probably not on that engine). I spent the next two weeks spraying PB blaster on the stuck valves thru the valve springs.......then tapping on the valves with a brass hammer......every night when I got home from work. In two weeks or less.......valves free.....amply coated with squirt can oil......engine fired ......purred like a kitten.

 

Heat's killing me too.

 

I've got the Intake, Exhaust, and Remanufactured Holley Carb from my '56 235, if you need anything.
Just threw away the New Front Brakes with Backing Plates.
Also have the Oil Bath Air Cleaner.

 

Good luck in firing her up. Keep us posted. I am in East T.N. and had to move the 56 Chrysler out side the air cond.Shop for some fine tuning. I worked on her for about 45 minutes in the sun. I barely made it back up to the cabin it was so hot .I just sat in the shower for a half hour just to get my strength back. Man that heat takes it out of you.And I did commercial roofing back in the 80s.I don't know how I did it. lol. Bruce.

 

She is alive! Well, sorta....I finally got it to bust off this afternoon after work. Ran for 20 seconds or so. Question here is would this engine have hydraulic lifters? It sure sounds like the lifters aren't pumped up. It was clattering just like you would think it would after sitting for 24 years. I am thinking I should run it in short bursts.... 20-30 seconds at a time and see if it quiets down some. All the valves are opening and closing....

 

Between McKinney and Bonham

 

Butch yes I have her on an IV. While trying to crank it yesterday the fuel line from the fuel pump started puking varnish everywhere cuz I had the line disconnected from the carb. I went ahead and disconnected the line from the tank to the fuel pump. I am going to attempt to flush the fuel pump once I get her running smooth. I couldn't believe it was pumping that crap out of the tank!

 

It should have hydraulic lifters and just let it run to pump them up.

 

Yeah I figured as much. Had it running for about 45 seconds and I could hear it getting more quiet.

 

Ok this sucks! Got antifreeze leaking between the head and the block.

 

What are you thinking, head gasket or cracked block?

 

She's been hot. If you should decide to pull the head, expect to find it cracked.
Blocks crack on the bottom of the water jacket over the oil galley, and you would have seen it by now ...

 

Hmmm...I cranked it back up and it isn't leaking now that I can see. I don't know if I will pull the head or not. Have to check with the owner and see what she wants to do. I actually ran it for about 4 minutes. It quieted down after a couple of minutes. I don't want to run it with that antifreeze leak.

 

I'm hoping it's just the gasket. Kinda weird that it quit leaking!

 

a 283 will really wake that bitch up

 

newbie question here, how'd you do the iv? i've seen them before but never paid much attention, now i need to do that and don't know how.

 

I bet it will now show better compression also
Keep a eye on it, maybe run it a bit and retorque the head. Been sitting a few years and bound to p

 

Pineapple I just used a plastic gas tank off an old lawnmower or tiller.... can't remember what it was off of. Has a 5/16 nipple on the bottom. I took some wire and made a couple of bales like a bucket handle and hung it from the hood with a bungee cord hook. I'll take a pic for you next time I go out to the shop.

 

I've been running it. No more antifreeze leak. Oil isn't green or milky. No bubbles in the radiator. The gauge says the generator is charging and I got 10 lbs of oil pressure at idle, 20+ on a rev of the engine. She mighta just needed to piss a bit?

 

Tears of joy from the ol girl

 

Here ya go Pineapple.

Now you need to get on home next weekend and get your's fired up! It can be done....this thread is proof positive that you too can do this!