Rebuild that has been sitting in garage

Discussion in 'Buick FAQ' started by concialdi, Feb 18, 2013.

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  1. concialdi

    concialdi Member

    A few years ago I took it upon myself to rebuild my 75 Skylark. I bought a 72 350 engine to rebuild and put in it and completed the rebuild on the engine quite some time ago but it has sat in my garage since I finished buttoning it all up. I has been about 2 years since I finished the rebuild on the engine and due to negligence or lack of time or lack of helpers to get the damn thing in my Skylark it has been sitting there, which begs the question, is there anything that I should do to the engine before I put it in and fire her up?

    Also, my Skylark has been sitting for about 6 or 7 years, is there anything I should do to prep the car for the new engine? Clean the fuel tank? replace/clean fuel lines?
     
  2. staged70

    staged70 RIP

    pull the tank and you can probably either have it cleaned or maybe a Nova replacement is available? The engine, I would oil the cylinders and hand turn it . I would probably repack the oil pump and then prime the oil pump the engine with oil in it to get oil pressure in it. Hopefully it has had spark plugs in it and is still sealed.
     
  3. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    Turn it over with a breaker bar after dumping some mystery oil down each cylinder. then try to prim it with a drill. If it does not build pressure repack the pump and try again. You should be good to go. The 455 in my track car sat for years after a rebuild and it fired right up.
     
  4. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    Turn it over with a breaker bar after dumping some mystery oil down each cylinder. then try to prime it with a drill. If it does not build pressure repack the pump and try again. You should be good to go. The 455 in my track car sat for years after a rebuild and it fired right up.
     
  5. concialdi

    concialdi Member

    Could I just use normal oil? Or is there something special with mystery oil? The oil pump is still packed from when I installed it, do I need to prime it? I have seen different things regarding using a drill to pre-oil, some places said to do it others said not to. What are the reasons one way of the other?

    Thanks!

    ---------- Post added at 11:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------

    Who would I call about cleaning out my tank? A radiator shop?

    I would imagine a nova replacement would probably work, hopefully it doesn't come to that.
     
  6. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    I pre primed mine just for piece of mind. Hooked up a gage and gave it a spin to see if it would build pressuer before I fired it up. Didnt spin it long enough to wash out the assmbly lube.
     
  7. concialdi

    concialdi Member

    Sorry for the basic question, but this is my first full rebuild.

    To oil the cylinders I would have to remove the heads, would I need to replace the head gaskets again once I open them up?
     
  8. DaWildcat

    DaWildcat Platinum Level Contributor

    Heavens no, just remove the spark plugs and squirt some oil on top of the pistons through the spark plug holes.

    Devon
     
  9. concialdi

    concialdi Member


    Haha. Jesus. I am stressing about getting this thing ready to go and must have overlooked the obvious. How much oil should I send down? Would WD-40 work too?
     

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