[0300youmadeit]

He all, thanks in advance for your help..
Long story, but for numerous reasons my Firebird (455, 6x 8 heads, Crower 60210 cam) has been garage bound for a the better part of the last 4 years, it’s been started and warmed up but not run much.. and I say in the past 2 years it’s hardly been at all.

I made all the mistakes as far as letting the gas sit, not draining anything etc.. but ironically it fired right up last week before the carb gave up. I cleaned and rebuilt the carb (Holley 750 vac sec) changed the oil and filter, new plugs all around and finally got it going again.. it was not smooth and the smoke coming out was pretty bad.. first very black the it eventually cleared up.. in the process of trying to start it I have become hopelessly flooded prior to the carb rebuild and oil change.

The next item to fail was the fuel pump.. carbs would run on id but due on throttle.. I was able to verify no fuel coming from the pump. I’ve had the diaphragm go before.. but I also noticed a wet spot on the headers by 3 and 5 where it bolts up to the head.. it is likely that the head gasket has also gone?

I’ve orders new head gaskets, header gaskets, intake gaskets, and fuel pump. Should I pull the head before trying to start it with the new pump? Is there any other way to verify if the gaskets blow ? The oil thst I took out was not milky at all; so I’m thinking if it did go it was yesterday.

Thanks.. and yes I know that the majority of these problems are self inflicted 🤦*♂️