Trying to start my old 440

[ljbprrfmof]

I dragged my old GTX out of the garage a few weeks ago.

It has been 11 years since I fired it up.

I pulled the plugs and gave it a few squirts of Marvel Mystery Oil into the cylinders and then cranked it over.

I have been trying to start it by pouring a bit of gas into the carb, but I am not getting any pops.

Might I need a new ballaast resistor? Can I jump the terminals to see if I get it to fire?

Should I just stop pretending and drag one of my techs down to get it running?

I am not really planning on driving it right now, I just want to get the ball rolling on doing that for next year. Oh he!!, if it starts I may gas it up and see how it goes down the road, but I still remember the list of work that needs to be done to it. Valve seats, valves and springs, fuel lines, brake lines, throw out bearing, fuel tank, patch some holes, fix some paint, and on and on and on...

[Bardo]

if it has been sitting that long i would change the oil before trying to crank it's over again

[ljbprrfmof]

Thanks, I will get that done. It looked okay when I pulled the dipstick.

[Bardo]

i know nothing about the older cars but off the top of my head i would think you would need a new ballast resistor, cap, contacts , points and wires. But I could be way off. :)

[ljbprrfmof]

I had another 1968, a 318, that needed the resistor to start, and had sat longer and outside. Unfortunately, I sold it.

[moparmike70]

If it still has points then I would see if they are stuck. If they are good or you upgraded to electronic ignition then take the ballast resistor off and look at the back of it or ohm it out with the wires off it. I think it should be .5ohms or 1ohm I'm not sure. It doesn't really matter though because when they go bad it is an open circuit so if you have resistance then it should be good. I would definately pull the distibutor and the gear and prime the oil pump before I did anything close to starting it though. I would change the oil too. If your spark is good I bet the carb is all oxidized inside.

[butchsuppe]

Just check if it has power on both sides of it, stuck points sounds very possible. Pop the cap and see if they arch when turning over the motor. Why would you let THAT car sit that long ?

[ljbprrfmof]

It sat because of the Italian condition, Fundzarlo.

I had it winter storage and some kids broke in and spray painted F*** on the side. this was after my repaint job died. It was painted as the transition from factory type enamels to base coat clear coat was beginning and the majority of the car did not get a clear coat. So it was not nice looking to drive. I rebuilt the engine in the 70's when I could still buy leaded premium so the valves were never done, so fueling was a pain. Back then a tank of cam2 cost me $120.00, but the tail pipes were white.

Moved into a new house, one that we stretched for, and a few years later, business began to get tough and I took some paycuts, traveled with the kids a lot. I did it once back in the late 70's early 80's, and that resto lasted over 10 years and it got stacked behind a couple other projects. plus, I wanted the next restoration to be high quality. So it lacked that one essential to that goal, a tall stack of twenties.

I'll see if there is continuity on both sides of the resistor and pull the cap and see what's up.

Thanks.

[looneytuner]

I always had a spare ballast resistor in the glove compartment on those. Now I carry a spare hep.