hi all. i recently purchased a '68 GS400 that had been sitting outside in a field for over a decade. the previous owner said that the car was running good when it was parked in 2002 or so. the odometer on the car shows 65xxx on the clock. the owner swore it was original mileage. i would love to get the old beast started again. the only thing that might be an issue is that the engine compartment is really dusty from sitting out in that windy dirty field for so long. everything was covered up carb etc with the exception of the breather tube hole on the passenger side valve cover... the hole was open to all the elements :shock: if dirt & dust got in there does that mean i need to pull & clean the entire cylinder head? or can i just take off the valve cover & clean it out some how? so what's the "correct" way for starting an old motor? i've read about squirting oil inside each spark plug hole. anything else? what do you guys do? Marty
Marty, did you use the board search option? If nothing comes up, you better try Google and type in "www.v8buick.com starting old engines" or words like that :TU: It will nerver hurt to remove both valve covers and replace the gaskets. When they are off, you can easily clean the top of the cylinder heads. Did you already try to turn the crank by hand with a big socket on the bolt inside the lower pulley at the front of the engine? If not, first remove all spark plugs and spray WD40 or "Marvel Mystery Oil" into the cylinders and let it soak for a few days, repeat the spraying every day. Also remove the carburettor and take it apart to check if the float still moves and that the bowl is clean. Replace all rubber fuel lines if they look bad, and check if the petrol pump still works. Also check the petrol tank, old petrol dries out and it leaves a sticky substance at the bottom of the tank. Try to blow through the fuel line with compressed air. Of course you should change the engine oil and filters before starting the engine. Maybe this thread will help :Comp:
I'm a gambler and have no issues starting an engine that has been sitting a long while, though admittedly a hole in the valve cover open that long would make me nervous. I'd pull that valve cover and take a peak at exactly how much dust is sitting in there, among other things that could of made it's way in. If you pull the cover and every surface you can see in there is covered with dirt, I'd stop there. If there is a little dust/dirt just under where the hole is I'd wipe/vacuum what you can, RTV the snot out of the valve cover (or purchase new gaskets) stick it back on drain the oil, install new filter, add fresh oil and in an ideal world pull the distributor to prime the system with the fresh oil (until the drill is loaded up is probably sufficient). In an inperfect world, crank it up. Watch the carb carefully incase the float or/and needle are bad or stuck and start pumping fuel all over the top of the carb. Speaking of which, the gas in the tank probably is crap and you'll want to drain anything in there and add fresh fuel (and prime the carb). Then there are a dozen other things field cars may have issues with. Leaks in the fuel lines, leaks in the brake system, transmission leaked near dry, etc. My friend and I drove an Oldsmobile out of a field that it had been sitting in for something like 7 years. Carefully checked over the brakes and fluids. Didn't prime the oil system, just cranked it a few times before priming the carb. It fired up, ran rough for about five minutes and smoothed out. We drove it across town then parted it out. **I'm adding, that you have already turned the engine over with a breaker bar to prove it isn't siezed up**
thanks for the info. i did do a search here & found some useful tips for cranking her over. in regards to "other things" field cars have issues with... i've counted 2 nests in the engine compartment alone... makes me wonder what else i might find or what may fall out once i start tearing into this thing :shock: thanks again Marty
There are dozens of other field things. Mouse nests in mufflers eventually catching fire, various electrical issues, seats that have been habitated, rusty parts, blown fuel pump diaphram, seized brakes, seized wheel bearings, and so on and so on. I personally find great satisfaction in getting things like these mobile, though don't care much for all the work afterwards to make them perfect.
i swear every field car i see for the rest of my life i'm going to be picturing what you wrote above. there are a pair of long tubular glasspack pipes underneath where the mufflers used to be. i can see how they could be easily mistaken as a quiet safety haven or a nice comfy birthing container for small or medium sized rodents. would nesting material like grass, trash, weeds or dead rodents blow out the tail pipes if i get the car running? should i be concerned about these things catching the car on fire? :eek2: hi Buick 455 i only have one pic of the car in the dirt as it sat with 4 flat tires. unfortunately i cannot upload it for some unknown reason. all the rest of the pics were taken after we mounted wheels & rolled it out of the field. those are in my the newbie section but here are a couple more
p Glass packs are nice solid steel tubing. I wouldn't worry about them. Its the standard chambered mufflers that easily trap in the grass and such nesting material and then the mufflers are usually rusty with holes, and it's the holes that let flames escape. A tin chambered muffler that didn't have any holes in it won't catch on fire, typically not enough oxygen at that point, or if the material catches on fire, it can't go anywhere but out the tail pipe.
Marty, Again, welcome to the site. Those out of the field pictures with the old "for sale" sign in the window are too cool. That's a great find you've got there. 2 pieces of advice. Protect that grille! It is valuable, and don't take this the wrong way, but maybe worth more than the car. I'm just trying to say it is precious and if your going to be doing a lot of engine work, you may want to even consider removing it to keep it safe. I also want to elaborate on the comment above: "...in an ideal world pull the distributor to prime the system with the fresh oil (until the drill is loaded up is probably sufficient). In an perfect world, crank it up." The priming of the remote oil pump is very important. You could probably do a search or two on that. Packing the remote oil pump with vasoline might be a good idea before hitting the pump with a drill. One of my 455's in my basement came out a Riviera that had been sitting for years. The guy started it up and subsequently spun quite a few bearings because he failed to properly prime. Good luck!!!
thanks for the advice Brian. i would of never guessed that GS grill was so valuable. i'll pull it before i do any work on her. yeah i need to read up on priming the pump with a drill. i found an older carcraft article where they pulled the distributor out of a GS400. then they cut & chucked the geared end of a chebby points distributor in a drill & stuck it in the distributor hole. is that the correct way? if i thread an oil pressure gauge to the block & it shows good pressure i guess i'm all good? how do i pack the remote pump with vasoline? i've received so much good info. the last thing i want to do is damage this motor. thanks again Marty
What I use for a primer is, go find a junkyard HEI from a Buick. The common 3.8 V6 ones are common and perfect for this, then pop the gear off it, pull all the rotor off, pull the advance springs and weights off, then stick a 1 1/8" socket (same one that is used on the crankshaft) over two of the studs that hold the advance springs and give it a whirl. I've been using this method for years now. I've never had one of the studs break, which I figure is the weak link in the system. Just lean into it a bit to keep the socket flat on the advance plate and it's solid and stable. I took this picture in 2009. You can see the circle where the socket sits on my distributor, this picture is only a year or two old (I use a modified 3.8 V6 distributor in my 455).
One recomendation I have is don't try to pull that old fuel from the tank. Use a hose going to a fresh, clean jug of fuel. I bought a car (71 GS 455) once cheap that the guy said it had a burned valve. It was just old gas.....backfired thru carb and ran like crap. Ran if off a jug when I got home and it purred like a kitten. That was 15 yrs ago and it still runs fine.
thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips & advice for getting the old 400BBB started again. it'll be a week or so before i get to wrenchin. 1st i gotta move the '65 f85 outta the garage & onto the drive way & move the buick GS400 from the drive way into the garage. i'll keep yall posted :TU:
Good luck with yours!...I'll be doing much the same once I drag my 69 home after a 17 year 'rest'. :beers2:
Hi Tinz. Because of family & other things going on around here you'll probably get yours running before mine.
