My engine has been sitting in the garage.....

[LSUpete]

I have an engine that was completely rebuilt two years ago ........and has been sitting in my garage without being started in all that time. Now it's time to crank it and I'm wondering what I need to do prior to starting it.

I'm sure some of you guys have been down this road before, so I would appreciate hearing your suggestions.

 

[broncomitch]

prime the oil pump,

If ya got a old dizzy kickin around, take it apart and use the pump shaft from it and use a drill to prime your oil system,

 

[DRBRONCO69]

As Mitch said, prime the oil pump and that would be all for me. Put it in and Start it up. There is enough assembly lube everywhere else. That shit is like glue.

 

[evil69]

How much humdity there? If a good bit, then I would throw some oil down the sparkplug holes and spin her by hand. Other than that, the above.

 

[blubuckaroo]

The cam is the biggest issue if it is a flat tappet cam. Most of the assembly lube is probably still between the cam and lifters. If the intake manifold is still off, pour a bottle of engine oil supplement (EOS) over the cam lobes and lifters. If you can't do that you still will need to add the EOS to the oil. Pick up a priming shaft from the part store and give it a good spin with a strong drill motor. You'll be able to tell when the pump primes. Prime until you're sure the oil is squirting from the rockers.

 

[Steve]

Yup, spin the oil pump. You don't need a special tool or an old distributor, just a long 1/4" drive ratchet extension and a 1/4" socket. Spin it CCW with a drill. You'll feel when you get oil pressure.

 

[Miker]

Much like Evil69 said, you might want to try just a little smidge of Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders through the spark plug holes

 

[jasonv]

I just started mine after 3 years. Pulling the distributor and spinning the oil pump is very easy and just takes a few minutes, no special tools needed. Just remember to mark the distributor and rotor so you put it back in the same place. It takes much longer to figure it all out again if you screw that up. ask me how I know...

Jason

 

[LSUpete]

Thanks guys.

The distributer has never been installed, so I can spin the oil pump shaft with no problem. I'll use the EOS and see how it goes.