I'm about ready to fire up my 55.1's 235 that's been sitting for over a quarter century and just want to make sure I haven't missed any steps. So far I have...
Drained the oil. (Oil looked awesome actually based on the age, almost no condensation whatsoever.) I replaced the oil and filter as well.
Pulled the plugs and sprayed PBlaster in the cylinders.
Pulled the cap and watched the rotor spin while I was turning the engine by the front fan. I made a mark on the distributor and the crank and after 1 rotation they were in the same spot.
While turning the engine I noticed the belt was slipping due to cracks and wear so I replaced it with a new one.
There was no liquid in the radiator to drain but I filled it and noted the level. Tonight I will inspect, hoping to not find a 1955.1's radiator worth of water on my garage floor.
I will be using a 12v battery as I don't have a 6v laying around. I'll keep lights/accessories off the entire time.
I also pulled the valve cover off and poured a bit of oil all over the top before I turned the engine.
I need to pull the carb tonight and clean out anything that might be in there, at first inspection things looked good. The oil bath filter has been covering it, as well as the hunk of 50's steel that is the hood.
The only other thing I can think of that I need to do, and please tell me if I'm missing something or you would suggest something more, is to rig a fuel line into a gas can rather than pulling from the tank. I'm not quite sure how to do this though. Do I buy new fuel line and just plumb it to fit? Do I use the existing line somehow?
I will NOT be using ether or any other starting fluids.
I'm not looking to spend tons of money just to get it to fire up quite yet as I'm debating the original or resto mod options. I just want to see how/if this thing runs.
Any thoughts or advice?
