38 Chevy Bus Coupe Resurrection Questions

Just came into possession of a 38 Chevy Coupe with 17K original miles. The H2O pump quit and she was parked in a garage 10 years ago. This car still has the original tires on it...the interior is not to be believed !! I know the battery is shot and the brakes need new fluid and bled, crank case drained and refilled, radiator flushed, fuel lines and tank checked....the real questions I have concern the carb and prep-ing the valve train and pistons etc. before trying to fire it up... any insight and info would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,Mike

Mike...Welcome to the Forum.

FYI...traffic on this website is traditionally low in numbers on a holiday weekend. I feel confident you will receive input shortly.

Regards, Peter J. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mike, that thing sounds perfect. Your ideas are right and the engine shouldn't be a big deal. I just went through a similar situation with a car that sat about 10 years. It wouldn't hurt to squirt some oil in the cylinders and maybe on the rocker arms. Then with the spark plugs out turn it over until you have oil pressure. With a stove bolt that's probably when the guage moves. When you do fire it watch the oil guage, and after it's hot I'd change oil. Have fun, welcome to the forum.

DON'T GO FOR A NEW BATTERY AND TRY THE STARTER YET !!!!

(Read on!)

Pulling the plugs and squirting some ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil into the cylinders is a good idea...

To that, I would add:

1) Remove the valve cover (two acorn nuts on top) and flood the valve stems and rocker arms with PB Blaster or Kroil (penetrating oils)...then take a rubber mallet, lead-faced hammer, or even a block of of wood and a regular hammer, and tap on the each rocker arm, right over the valve, to make sure they're not stuck.

2) Once you've established that all the valves are free, try turning the engine over by HAND - either using the fan (wear gloves) or the hand crank - go slowly until the crankshaft has completed at least two revolutions (distributor rotor goes around once)...

3) If you've been able to turn the crankshaft over at lest two complete revolutions, NOW you can think about a battery and the starter...

Here's my reason for the caution...these Chevy sixes have a fibre timing gear on the camshaft...if a vlave is stuck or the oil pump or distributor are seized, it is quite possible to strip the teeth on that fibre cam gear, and then you'll be tearing the engine down to repair that before you go much further... (yes, I've been there... )

Another possibility is bending a pushrod against a stuck valve... (been there too !)

Once everything is moving freely, then you can safely go about getting the ignition system working and giving it some gas and getting it running !

Enjoy your time capsule!