Guest Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 i have a cutlas. it's an 85 or 86 supreame, brougham. i'd like to restore it. it has sat outside for about 2 years. the last time it was driven started knocking real loud and i had to keep my foot in it all the way to keep it from stalling. i had it towed to my house. it hasn't moved an inch in 2 years. the bees have made the trunk thier home, along with the mirrors. i would love to get it on the road but i don't even know how to get started. if anyone can help me out it would be greatly appreciated. thanx for any help you can spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Mumford Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 I'd start with the basics. You know that after sitting for two years, the gas is bad and the carb is probably gummed up. I'd drop the tank and empty it, clean the carb, change the fuel and air filter and add some carb or injector cleaner to the tank of new gas. Check and/or change the plugs/wires. Change the oil and filter. Check your wires for frays/corroded connections, and check and replace the vacuum lines. Just remember an engine needs four things in order to run. 1. Fuel 2. Spark 3. Compression 4. Timing - The first three need to happen at the right time.The first thing I arm myself with when I get a new (new to me at least)vehicle is a service manual. I prefer Haynes but sometimes use Chiltons. Hope this gets you started.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">a service manual. I prefer Haynes </div></div>Gaa-aaack! They're better than nothing, but not by much.The factory service manuals are the best. Many are available on CD-ROM now if you can't find a good original copy, and originals are all over e-bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Art Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Dan is right about the fuel system. Gasoline has something like a 6 month shelf life, after that it can give you trouble. Cleaning the fuel system out from tank to carb is a good place to start. All that old stinky gas has or will gum up your carburator and clog the filter. While your having the carb and tank built/cleaned, I'd shoot some Mystery Oil into each cylinder with the spark plugs out. Let it penetrate a bit and then spin the engine over using the starter motor WITHOUT the plugs installed to blow anything that may have worked it's way into the intake system or cylinders. Water from the block or elsewhere can ruin an engine PDQ if you try to compress it in a cylinder. Once the engine is spinning nicely, run a compression test just to see if there are any burn valves, blown gaskets or rings. This can let you know where you stand compression-wise which is one of the elements Dan listed. You can hold a spark plug wire with a non-conductive device near the block and crank the engine just as you did when you ran the compression test and you should see a nice spark jump to it- BTW, it's a good idea to disable the ignition system when you run that test, there should be a wire(s) connected to the distributor where it says "BATT" this is the power to make spark plug current. Just disconnect when testing the compression and reconnect when testing for spark.If you've got compression, spark (delivered right at the nick of time) and gas, you're engine should run. Now, if you hear all sorts of knocking, tapping etc, it's possible you've got bad bearings, stuck lifters or lifters that won't pump up due to being gummed up with cruddy oil. Then you may have to go for a rebuild. However, you really won't know that until you get her running first.The Haynes Manual gives some help, but I find them limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontiac59 Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it. Odds are it can be replaced for under $1000, and if it has major engine problems it will cost more than that to repair. You might think about borrowing a compression tester and checking the compression in it before you do much else - you should still be able to put a battery on it and crank it over enough to do that without hurting anything. Its one thing if the car has some kind of sentimental value, but otherwise you may as well go the least expensive option and save the trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Art Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 Good point, he didn't say what engine he had in it. If it's a 307, I'd probably go find a nice 350 to replace it. He still needs to drain and clean the gas tank if it's got two year old gas in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 i do have a 307 in there. i don't know thing one about rebuilding an engine so more than likely i'd be dropping something new in. but i'm not so sure how things would bolt up w/ different engines so i kinda need to know how to go about finding one. should i just call jasper? what would you recomend? oh and thanx for all the help so far all your ideas have been very helpfull so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanzcorp Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 I would recommend going with a 68-72 olds 350 over the stock 307, (at least I would because where I live a car is smog exepmt after 20 years). This way you get a little more power than stock and if you wanna take them 5.0's it shouldnt be too hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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