today Saturday I finally got back to trying to start the engine. Last time it would not turn over. The battery was charged up I thought but i took it back inside and recharged it before today. I then today took out all the spark plugs and squirted some light oil into the cylinders. Went inside and got the battery. With the plugs out we turned the key for a half a second a couple times and it turned over. Then we turned the ignition on for a few seconds to maybe get the oil into all the right places. Since the thing hasn't been started in years I was relieved.
The gas in it is maybe 6 years old - who knows. It might present a problem for the next step of actually starting. There is not much gas in the tank so I could easily dilute the old gas.
Interesting to work on the old beast. I climbed into the engine compartment to work on the plugs. Sit on the front metal that goes over the radiator. So anyway I reinstalled the plugs and then hooked up the battery. Kristen had got to cleaning out the front and wanted me to get her the canister vacuum so she could suck out all the little crap from the rust bucket. plastic bags had rot in the sun over the years and pieces were all over. All kinds of junk to throw away. It now looks pretty good inside.
So back to the engine. I got in the drivers seat and Kristen in the passenger seat. I turned the key and it turned over pretty well but did not start. I pumped the gas pedal many times trying to prime it and get a lot of gas into it but no luck. The ignition clicked a few times so that was not good.
During her cleaning, Kristen had found a can of starting fluid. I got out and took off the air cleaner top and sprayed into the carb. Then I had Kristen crank it and it started! We let it run a few minutes and I thought it would sputter and die but it did not. I had to shut it down since there is no water or coolant in it.
I'm going to change the coolant in the 1997 truck and put the old fluid into the 73. Then we can try and restart and maybe drive it around the parking lot.
