23 year wake up?

[mopardwh]

Going to pick up a new car next weekend that I bought on the bay. Guy says it's matching numbers 383. Says he bought it at the Nats last month from a guy who claims it's been in a barn in Florida since 1984.  Don't know any others details but the guy I am buying it off of fixed the brakes and drove it around the block, so I assume he woke up the engine as well.

I've seen some long naps and fire right up, but 23 years!!! Is it possible? Or would it had to have been kept up?

[bb71challenger]

Depends a lot on how it was put to bed. It is possible for it to fire right up but I would think that it would take time for some things such as valves and rings to unglue and perform correctly

[MEK-Dangerfield]

IF the guy actually drove it, then he better have put new brake fluid in there along with fixing the brakes.  If someone started this guy once in a while, then it's possible the engine wasn't frozen. It sounds promising, but I would be changing ALL fluids real fast, just in case. 


  Mike

[mopardwh]

Yeah he said he replaced the master cylinder and the rear line going over the rear end. I think I'm actually gonna swap the motor out right away. My 383/727 combo has sat for 4 or 5 years without starting now, but it has less than 7k on a fresh build on both. Any tips on bringing them back to life? (Other than pulling the gear and priming oil)? 

[Topcat]

When I was in College taking an automotive class my teacher showed us what he did with old engines after they get fired up from sitting. Or if they were just high milage engines. He said that before you change the oil, take some Marvel mystery oil and/or A/T fluid combination. Pour about a half to a full oil cans worth in the crankcase. Run the engine to medium idle speed but watch the R's. After 20-30 minutes, drain the whole mess out and re fill with new oil. It will remove almost all the sludge inside. I believe he even poured it down the carb while running too.

I'm not saying he is right.

But I did watch him do it and it does make sense. and there was no damage done.
Trans fluid breaks up sludge type oil pretty good.

[bb71challenger]

  plus a good thing to do also is to pull the plugs and put marvel mystery oil into each cylinder and let it sit for a few days before trying to turn it over by hand.