Long term storage first startup

[77 K10 SWB]

Newbie here looking for some input. 77 K10 SWB 350 4 spd all original owned since 1990. Stored under cover 24 years no climate control. Wanted advice on fluids, pre-start process, etc. Will be daily on our ranch & short trips to town once everything addressed. TIA

 

[legopnuematic]

Welcome from Missouri.

A good starting point would be pull the spark plugs, squirt some light oil in the holes, buy (or make with an old distributor) a pre-luber. Roll the engine over by hand running the preluber when the crank is in different positions to get oil moved around.

Have any more photos of the whole truck? I see some pretty cool and uncommon options on the SPID sheet.

Most notably the 16” tube type wheels and mandarin orange interior.

 

[Sad Sack]

^^^^^ what he said.

 

[77 K10 SWB]

Like your advice. Not looking to mod this truck just bring her back mechanically and enjoy again. Believe original owner in Montana ordered & optioned this rig. Years ago replaced quadjet with Holley 4bbl manual choke. Pix available later.

 

[Trucksareforwork]

You might consider watching a couple of Vice Grip Garage's revivals of squarebodies on youtube. He's native to small block chevys and talks through a lot of the stuff you have to check on a vehicle that has been stored... I don't know how many SBCs he has done but you cuold probably find 2-3 squarebody videos of his (Derek's) and that would give you the confidence that you aren't going to do something totally wrong. And, to be clear, he often does things the total backyard way, but hey...it's a show.

She got oil? Is the oil real or half water? (change the oil)

She got coolant? (fill coolant at least until you can see it 6-8 inches down in the radiator)
Hoses intact (upper, lower radiator hoses, heater hoses)

Wiring generally intact or eaten by mice? Do you have the big 4-5 wires necessary to run the motor? (Ignition, starter cable, ground cable, coil wiring, honestly, that's about it as far as running the motor on a 77.)

Are any of the vacuum hoses broken, cracked, or disconnected? If so, just ensure the carb and manifold vacuum ports are capped before trying to start. One a lot of people miss on that Hollley is the big gulp vacuum fitting on the back of the base of the carb.

Is the distributor cap and rotor clean?

Like the advice on a drip or two of oil in each cylinder... while doing that make sure the plugs are either new (cheap), or not broken, cracked, or fouled.

Are the spark plug wires intact? A few minutes with an Ohm meter can check the wires aren't bad. While you do that (one by one), check that they firing order is correct. A lot of cars that are parked get fiddled with at some point and plug wires is one spot to double check.

I'm assuming in 77 it was HEI, so no points to check, but if it's got a holley it's modded, so check to make sure it doesn't have points and if so you may need to file the points to get her to fire.

Battery good? Of course not, but make sure you make good connections to the battery when you put it in there.

The advice to take the distributor out and prime the motor oil while turning the crank a couple revolutions is great and very careful. I would at least ensure it turns a full two revolutions with a wrench on the crank (not the starter) before I hit the starter.

A very big area to watch out for will be rust in the fuel system. A truck sitting that long, even under cover, is bound to have a rusty fuel tank. A FIRST step before starting it would be to get a cheap 3/8 fuel filter and put it in the rubber fuel hose that goes between the frame rail steel one to the fuel pump on the lower passenger side of the truck.

Bonus is you can see whether the engine pumps fuel from the tank if you use a cheap plastic filter that you can see thru. A more conservative approach would be to attach a cheap electric fuel pump to the steel line and try to pump anything that is in that fuel tank out into a bucket before putting new fuel in. I'm not sure how much liquid you would have in there. a truly conservative approach would be to just plan on putting a new fuel tank and sender in there.

 

[Sad Sack]

I'd start with the brake system.
A running truck wont do ya any good if it can't stop.

 

[Ricko1966]

Like your advice. Not looking to mod this truck just bring her back mechanically and enjoy again. Believe original owner in Montana ordered & optioned this rig. Years ago replaced quadjet with Holley 4bbl manual choke. Pix available later.

Do you know how to pull a distributor and get it back,in time? If not you may be better using a pressure operate preoiler. I'll give you my advice on pullingbthe distributor if that's the route you decide to go. Pull the distributor cap,turn the engine until the rotor is pointing straight back at the firewall.At the base of the distributor make a match mark on the distributor and the intake manifold. When you go back in make sure you go in with the rotor pointing at the firewall,rotate the distributor body to line up the match marks,tighten it down. It's back in,in time.If you are going to turn the engine with the distributor out mark your balancer and timing tab. So engine can be put in the same position as when you took it apart.Always rotate the crankshaft 2 times if you move it at all. Distributor turns at 1/2 crank speed if you rotate the engine 1 turn,3,5,7,9 the distributor will be 180* out of time.

 

[ali_c20]

Welcome from Austria.

Search Youtube, many videos on starting engines that sat for decades. E.g. Vice Grip Garage.

I'd start with the brake system.
A running truck wont do ya any good if it can't stop.

I would start it first, hear it running, see stuff spinning, produce smoke and smell, that motivates me do dig in the other areas that needs attention.

 

[Ricko1966]

I think 1st thing I'd do is make sure it turns over and has compression.

 

[Grit dog]

Well first, those are awesome color combos. Interested to see the interior.
And what a cool truck!
I wouldn’t be able to wait to get it started!