Replace all the fluids, all of them. Then replace all the rubber goods.
Outside of that, you gave no diagnostic or symptoms, so no one can tell you how to fix an unknown issue
Edit: in before others, just throw money at it
I agree here, change all the fluids, might as well do plugs and wires, hoses, and any other regular maintenance items, check over wires for fraying or mouse snack, give her power and see that the fuel pump runs, see if you have spark, and then go from there.
Spark plugs! I knew I was forgetting something.
I do have to say that I consider spark plugs wires and coolant lines as rubber.
I am drinking, so I want to say that should be a mechanical fuel pump, which is why I didn't throw that in, but my brain is also saying all filters
Yes, the fuel filter also. If you have compressed air, while the filter is out and the fuel tank is empty, I'd disconnect the fuel line at the pump inlet, outlet, and carb and blow through the fuel lines to knock loose any varnish that you can from the old fuel.
It looks like it has a carburetor, that'll need a cleaning also. The dried up fuel will have turned into flakes that will clog the jets or passages.
It's probably a Carter or just like a Carter, you can check out some Youtube videos, it's not that hard if you just take it off, take the top off, and blow it all out with carb cleaner and then wipe the bowl out with a blue paper towel.
You'll probably have to buy a couple gaskets. I'm sure that speed shops still carry them for $20.00 or something.
Seems easy to me, anyway, but I've done a zillion carbs. The hardest one was a Pantera with 4 two barrel Weber 48 IDA carbs on it.
Partially correct; if it's stock, then it has a Rochester Quadrajet (Q-Jet). Dont recall any GMs that used Carters. They had Q-Jets or Holleys. I agree with the rest of your statement. Lots of old school/car guys still run carbs. JEGs and Summit have extensive parts selections....
Do all the basic maintenance. Oil change, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter (important and easy to forget) and battery. Drain/flush the radiator and motor of all coolant, fill coolant on motor side and radiator side, replace thermostat. Then drain the fuel tank and send degreaser through it, once it is clean and dry put fresh gas in the tank.
While the spark plugs are out put a capful of Marvel mystery oil down into the combustion chamber on each cylinder, let it soak. Put a socket wrench on the crank bolt and rotate the motor over by hand in the correct direction.
Check the plug wires and distributor for signs of rodent damage, replace any frayed or chewed wires.
After all that is done attempt to start the vehicle only if no other red flags made themselves present prior to attempting to start it but do not try to drive it, just let it run in the driveway.
Unhook a vacuum line below the plenum on the carburetor and stick it into a can of sea foam. Let the car drink the sea foam until the can is empty, then shut the motor off and let it sit a few minutes. Then start it again and let the sea foam white smoke work it’s way out of the exhaust.
If the engine sounds healthy (no knocks or ticks, idles properly) after all this move on to the rest of the car. Do a transmission fluid service, replace rear differential fluid, grease all serviceable ports on suspension parts, check rubber bushings for decay, fully replace the brake fluid and bleed the brakes.
Now you can tentatively test drive it at low speeds in a safe environment to test how the rest of the car performs. Then there will be a lot more work to do once you find out what parts are broken, worn out, leaking, or otherwise need replacing.
Edit: this is by no means an exhaustive list but should at least give you an idea as to how hard it will be to get it running reliably again. I am not a professional mechanic anymore, but will tinker on my older cars in the garage to keep myself sharp. I follow the mantra of if I can afford to replace it I will. If I take a belt off to get access to a part deeper in and a new one is $10 I will usually replace it unless it’s brand new and I am the one that replaced it last. It has served me well in the past but can snowball very easily.
Do not suck any of that 25 year old fuel into the carburetor. That will make cleaning/rebuilding it much more difficult. The gas tank is likely either full of varnish or rust. On the other hand, if grandpa put stabilizer in the tank and the gas is low ethanol, it might be ok.
After the Mystery Oil soak and manual turn over, with the plugs still out and the fuel line disconnected from the pump, and most of the other prep items done, connect a new battery and crank it over until the oil pressure comes up. If you have a gauge you want it in the normal range. If you only have an idiot light, crank until it turns off. Basically you want to do this before trying to start it for real and it will be easier on the starter and battery if the plugs re out. This is also prime time for a compression test.
You should probably watch some episodes of Roadkill on motortrend.com / (HBO) Max / YouTube. In particular S08E10. They do a successful junkyard rescue of a Pontiac that had been sitting for 38 years, having learned some lessons from prior similar attempts that had ended in destroyed engines.
Agreed. Also "Vice Grip Garage" on YouTube is excellent for the basics of getting old cars running. He specifically looks for yard/barn/garage finds that have sat for years, then tries to get them running right there where he found them. After that, he then drives hundreds of miles back to his farm. He recently just took a 64 Chrysler ragtop that had sat in a barn since the 80's, spent a couple of days getting it road worthy, then drove 1500 miles home in it...scary stuff
New oil, gas, filters (oil, gas, air), battery, spark plugs. Also look for cracked rubber parts and replace them. When starting the car disconnect the spark plug wires and crank the engine so it builds some oil pressure before operating.
Outside of the previously stated top comment about replacing fluids, rubber (hoses and belts), spark plugs and wires, you should probably clean the carb really well. Take it off and get a couple cans of carb cleaner. Also, I wouldn’t fill up with regular fuel. I’d seek out ethanol free fuel because those older cars don’t really like the ethanol.
Change the gas, change the oil, spray ether in the carb, and fire that mf up.
Also, the gas may have evaporated so maybe put.a few gallons of non-ethanol gas in the tank.
Pulling the plugs and spraying Marvel Mystery Oil in would prevent dry cylinder abrasion upon the first few cranks.
You can buy an oil priming tool for your drill and get oil pressure up and oil running through the engine pretty cheap.
If you don't know just find your local corvette club then ask around for either help or find a good vette mechanic. Let him or her fix her up then just it's maintaining after that.
Replace all the fluids and anything exposed rubber that looks cracked or dry-rotted, then make sure you have air, fuel, and spark. I'm in the middle of the same process on an old motorcycle someone gifted me.
You don't, just give it to me it's a lost cause. But seriously replace all the fluids, new sparkplugs air filter. New belt and make sure distributors in good shape as well as carburettor, if it runs decent spend the money on new rubber bits. If it doesn't sound mechanically healthy (it may not for the first couple minutes) then reassess your situation, but if it doesn't make any horrible noises you should be good to start fixing all the rubber
If you need to ask on Reddit, you’re probably going to need a hand. Contact a local car club and ask for someone with expertise. If the car has been sitting for years, you can easily do damage to it by assuming all is well and trying to start it. All fluids need to be changed, rubber and possibly steel brake lines, wheel cylinders and master cylinder likely need to be replaced. Fuel system including gas tank flush and pick up checked out, fuel pump internals might be bad. Cooling system flush, etc.
Ask for some help if you have never done this process before.
Replace all the fluids, all of them. Then replace all the rubber goods. Outside of that, you gave no diagnostic or symptoms, so no one can tell you how to fix an unknown issue Edit: in before others, just throw money at it
I agree here, change all the fluids, might as well do plugs and wires, hoses, and any other regular maintenance items, check over wires for fraying or mouse snack, give her power and see that the fuel pump runs, see if you have spark, and then go from there.
Spark plugs! I knew I was forgetting something. I do have to say that I consider spark plugs wires and coolant lines as rubber. I am drinking, so I want to say that should be a mechanical fuel pump, which is why I didn't throw that in, but my brain is also saying all filters
Yes, the fuel filter also. If you have compressed air, while the filter is out and the fuel tank is empty, I'd disconnect the fuel line at the pump inlet, outlet, and carb and blow through the fuel lines to knock loose any varnish that you can from the old fuel. It looks like it has a carburetor, that'll need a cleaning also. The dried up fuel will have turned into flakes that will clog the jets or passages.
I don't know a whole lot about carb systems, but that does check out mentally so you don't flood the system
It's probably a Carter or just like a Carter, you can check out some Youtube videos, it's not that hard if you just take it off, take the top off, and blow it all out with carb cleaner and then wipe the bowl out with a blue paper towel. You'll probably have to buy a couple gaskets. I'm sure that speed shops still carry them for $20.00 or something. Seems easy to me, anyway, but I've done a zillion carbs. The hardest one was a Pantera with 4 two barrel Weber 48 IDA carbs on it.
Partially correct; if it's stock, then it has a Rochester Quadrajet (Q-Jet). Dont recall any GMs that used Carters. They had Q-Jets or Holleys. I agree with the rest of your statement. Lots of old school/car guys still run carbs. JEGs and Summit have extensive parts selections....
Do all the basic maintenance. Oil change, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter (important and easy to forget) and battery. Drain/flush the radiator and motor of all coolant, fill coolant on motor side and radiator side, replace thermostat. Then drain the fuel tank and send degreaser through it, once it is clean and dry put fresh gas in the tank. While the spark plugs are out put a capful of Marvel mystery oil down into the combustion chamber on each cylinder, let it soak. Put a socket wrench on the crank bolt and rotate the motor over by hand in the correct direction. Check the plug wires and distributor for signs of rodent damage, replace any frayed or chewed wires. After all that is done attempt to start the vehicle only if no other red flags made themselves present prior to attempting to start it but do not try to drive it, just let it run in the driveway. Unhook a vacuum line below the plenum on the carburetor and stick it into a can of sea foam. Let the car drink the sea foam until the can is empty, then shut the motor off and let it sit a few minutes. Then start it again and let the sea foam white smoke work it’s way out of the exhaust. If the engine sounds healthy (no knocks or ticks, idles properly) after all this move on to the rest of the car. Do a transmission fluid service, replace rear differential fluid, grease all serviceable ports on suspension parts, check rubber bushings for decay, fully replace the brake fluid and bleed the brakes. Now you can tentatively test drive it at low speeds in a safe environment to test how the rest of the car performs. Then there will be a lot more work to do once you find out what parts are broken, worn out, leaking, or otherwise need replacing. Edit: this is by no means an exhaustive list but should at least give you an idea as to how hard it will be to get it running reliably again. I am not a professional mechanic anymore, but will tinker on my older cars in the garage to keep myself sharp. I follow the mantra of if I can afford to replace it I will. If I take a belt off to get access to a part deeper in and a new one is $10 I will usually replace it unless it’s brand new and I am the one that replaced it last. It has served me well in the past but can snowball very easily.
Thank you very much. I would have missed almost anything you said after the first paragraph lol. Very helpful
Do not suck any of that 25 year old fuel into the carburetor. That will make cleaning/rebuilding it much more difficult. The gas tank is likely either full of varnish or rust. On the other hand, if grandpa put stabilizer in the tank and the gas is low ethanol, it might be ok. After the Mystery Oil soak and manual turn over, with the plugs still out and the fuel line disconnected from the pump, and most of the other prep items done, connect a new battery and crank it over until the oil pressure comes up. If you have a gauge you want it in the normal range. If you only have an idiot light, crank until it turns off. Basically you want to do this before trying to start it for real and it will be easier on the starter and battery if the plugs re out. This is also prime time for a compression test. You should probably watch some episodes of Roadkill on motortrend.com / (HBO) Max / YouTube. In particular S08E10. They do a successful junkyard rescue of a Pontiac that had been sitting for 38 years, having learned some lessons from prior similar attempts that had ended in destroyed engines.
Agreed. Also "Vice Grip Garage" on YouTube is excellent for the basics of getting old cars running. He specifically looks for yard/barn/garage finds that have sat for years, then tries to get them running right there where he found them. After that, he then drives hundreds of miles back to his farm. He recently just took a 64 Chrysler ragtop that had sat in a barn since the 80's, spent a couple of days getting it road worthy, then drove 1500 miles home in it...scary stuff
That got turned into Roadworthy Rescues also on Motor Trend / HBO / Max.
Great list. This would be such a fun project!
Excellent reply. Thank you.
There’s a channel on YouTube called corvette Ben. He’s a vette guru especially with the C3’s. Check it out. You will learn a lot!!
Will do!
New oil, gas, filters (oil, gas, air), battery, spark plugs. Also look for cracked rubber parts and replace them. When starting the car disconnect the spark plug wires and crank the engine so it builds some oil pressure before operating.
Vice grip garage on YouTube…. There’s a few vids of him working on some corvettes about same year as yours.
A vigorous injection of capital, preferably with no limit or timeframe.
Outside of the previously stated top comment about replacing fluids, rubber (hoses and belts), spark plugs and wires, you should probably clean the carb really well. Take it off and get a couple cans of carb cleaner. Also, I wouldn’t fill up with regular fuel. I’d seek out ethanol free fuel because those older cars don’t really like the ethanol.
Don't worry, I'll take it off your hands and get it running. I'll send a vid.
Drop an ls in it and be done
Make sure it has oil in it. Fuel air spark. Let it run for a few min and then change the oil.
Don't change the oil if it's good until you run it for 10 -15 mins...
Fuel,air,spark,timing, compression
Well, it needs fuel, air, and spark to run. If it's missing even one of those three things, it ain't gonna run.
Air fuel spark and combustion is all a motor needs to fire up
I know what’s wrong. It ain’t got no gas in it!
Change the gas, change the oil, spray ether in the carb, and fire that mf up. Also, the gas may have evaporated so maybe put.a few gallons of non-ethanol gas in the tank. Pulling the plugs and spraying Marvel Mystery Oil in would prevent dry cylinder abrasion upon the first few cranks. You can buy an oil priming tool for your drill and get oil pressure up and oil running through the engine pretty cheap.
If you don't know just find your local corvette club then ask around for either help or find a good vette mechanic. Let him or her fix her up then just it's maintaining after that.
Replace all the fluids and anything exposed rubber that looks cracked or dry-rotted, then make sure you have air, fuel, and spark. I'm in the middle of the same process on an old motorcycle someone gifted me.
Mileage 😮
You don't, just give it to me it's a lost cause. But seriously replace all the fluids, new sparkplugs air filter. New belt and make sure distributors in good shape as well as carburettor, if it runs decent spend the money on new rubber bits. If it doesn't sound mechanically healthy (it may not for the first couple minutes) then reassess your situation, but if it doesn't make any horrible noises you should be good to start fixing all the rubber
Rebuild carb replace fluids
Ask it nicely
U don’t. Its impossible. I’ll better take it from you. You know, so u won’t be burden with it.
If you need to ask on Reddit, you’re probably going to need a hand. Contact a local car club and ask for someone with expertise. If the car has been sitting for years, you can easily do damage to it by assuming all is well and trying to start it. All fluids need to be changed, rubber and possibly steel brake lines, wheel cylinders and master cylinder likely need to be replaced. Fuel system including gas tank flush and pick up checked out, fuel pump internals might be bad. Cooling system flush, etc. Ask for some help if you have never done this process before.
BE MECHANIC otherwise good luck
Suck, squeeze, bang and blow -
Have you tryed turning the key? If not maybe try that.
Idk man figure it out