About Us

baron_ · 03-22-2005, 06:27 PM

Hey, thought this would be as good a place as any...

just bought a '75 firebird 400 formula out of an old barn....

engine is original, was a daily driver a few years back but the owner died and it's been sitting

How should i go about trying to start 'er up?

I'd rather not try a rebuild at this time...this would make a neat daily driver if i can get it running without too much trouble

(figure i'll rebuild the carb and put in an oil change)

Other than that...i hear spraying a little WD-40 down the spark plug holes can be useful?

baron_ · 03-22-2005, 06:27 PM

Hey, thought this would be as good a place as any...

just bought a '75 firebird 400 formula out of an old barn....

engine is original, was a daily driver a few years back but the owner died and it's been sitting

How should i go about trying to start 'er up?

I'd rather not try a rebuild at this time...this would make a neat daily driver if i can get it running without too much trouble

(figure i'll rebuild the carb and put in an oil change)

Other than that...i hear spraying a little WD-40 down the spark plug holes can be useful?

Blowing hot air · 03-22-2005, 07:03 PM

My old man use to take out all the plugs and put a little fuel oil in each cylinder. Let it sit over night and then next day turn the engine over with no plugs in it. It always seemed to work on the cars he would buy that have been sitting for years.

76TA428 · 03-22-2005, 07:56 PM

If you can turn it over manually thats a good start. Means its not frozen. Get some 3-in-1 oil and pour a little down each plug hole and turn it over a few times and let it sit overnight. Would be best to go through the carb and replace gaskets. Fuel likes to turn to varnish and then dust if left sit for a while. Make sure nothing crawled in and made a home anywhere. would be best to change out the oil as well, this is also good to see what kind of condition the engine is in. Of course change the plugs. Cheaper than sitting there cranking on it forever. Nothing else comes to mind right away except to drain out the old gas and put some new in with a treament or carb cleaner and start her up. Wd 40 makes a great cleaner for a lot of things, but if it gets in your oil it looks an awful lot like water. I learned this the hard way since I used it during my freshening to keep the block and bores from rusting when my heads were off. Other than that. Good luck, and let us know how it sounds.

gobrdgo · 03-22-2005, 08:02 PM

My old man, a retired aircraft mechanic is a big fan of Marvel Mystery Oil in instances like that. Monkey see Monkey do in my case.

J.C.you · 03-22-2005, 08:15 PM

my old man, humphh. u guys may be ole farts one day. respect ur elders

gobrdgo · 03-22-2005, 08:19 PM

It's a term of endearment, I have the utmost respect for my dear old dad.

baron_ · 03-22-2005, 09:47 PM

added some pictures of my 'finds'

the '75 formula is pretty much complete...front end a little disassembled

and yes, that's a 66 convert behind it that i bought too

needless to say, i'm thrilled
they're both a bit rough...but will be plenty of fun getting going

I think the pictures are neat...covered in an inch of grime...open the door to the interior and it's pristine

242177P · 03-22-2005, 11:29 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clay Marsh:
and yes, that's a 66 convert behind it that i bought too

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I think you'll find that it's a 67. I figure a Tempest cause it doesn't have the 1/4 panel 'gills'.

baron_ · 03-22-2005, 11:40 PM

naw, a '66 GTo convertible with air
in the picture showing the firebird hood, you can see hte tail panel on the goat

already looked at it a good bit

, ran the VIN and all

76TA428 · 03-23-2005, 12:42 AM

Marvel mystery oil, 3 in 1, basically same. Any kind of light oil will do. Just dont use a heavy oil like you would put in the engine.

MoJo · 03-23-2005, 07:15 AM

Oil it good and don't get in a hurry. Let it meditate awhile. After you oil it, sit in the front seat with a red rag folded in both hands and say this repeatedly with eyes closed.
Ahhhhuuuuuuuuuuuummmmm.........

screamingchief · 03-23-2005, 07:58 AM

I could just scream at how your storing that formula hood! PLEASE put it on its side,I cannot tell you how many of those hoods I've seen ruined by standing them up on the hood corners like that! JMO...

Brian Baker · 03-23-2005, 08:34 AM

Pull the spark plugs and pour about 4 oz. of Marvel's Mystery Oil into each cylinder and let it sit at least overnight. Then either turn engine over by hand or with the starter, with the plugs out.

Of course, it would be smart at this time to rebuild the carb and replace the normal ignition components you would at tune-up time.

I would also advise dropping the fuel tank and draining any old gas out of it and checking it for crud.

Change oil and filter last, then fire it up! It'll smoke for a little while from the Marvel's, but it should stop by the time it gets to operating temp.

GREATGTO · 03-23-2005, 03:03 PM

id be more excited over that gto, what shape is it in and is it for sale?

baron_ · 03-23-2005, 03:33 PM

oh, i'm definitely more excited about the gto

but it's pretty rough
floors and frame are good....body has dents (tried to bondo over) and a lot of rust in the back end...may need a whole new back
was hit a few times in the back (lightly) but is all rusted up with metal bent every which way

regardless, i'm tickled....

but i know all about the 'vert...the formula is new to me

and i'm thinking the 'vert will be a keeper, not sure yet though, something needs to go

there'll be 2 66 gto's, a 67 gto, a '75 formula, '67 gp and who knows what else by the end of the week in my dad's driveway...and the neighbors will be screaming

and yea, i now know not to store the formula hood like that - didn't know it was fiberglass as most of my attention was to the goat

Flamin65 · 03-25-2005, 07:20 PM

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the distributor and get an oil pump primer and prime the pump after you change the oil.

Greg

OINK 1 · 03-26-2005, 11:44 AM

THE KEY parts to get oil to are the piston pins !! If the motor is still in the car, do an oil and filter change, Add 12 more quarts to it. Total of 18 quarts. Prime the oil system as in previous post. Take out spark plugs, 5 pumps of oil in each cylinder, ATF even better.
NOW turn the motor over with starter, this will splash oil piston pins. Drain oil down to correct level, saving oil for future.
Take off valve covers, oil rockers and valve stems.

If it's on an engine stand, just do oil change and tilt motor 90' to each side to oil pins.

Oink 1

Menu

About Us