Been sitting for 6 years... what do I do?

[Alaska48]

Hey all... I have a 1948 Plymouth 2 door special deluxe. My grandfather was the second owner buying it in 1951, then my dad owned it and drove it to school, and now its mine. In 1997, we had it mechanically restored running sound, body still needs work but engine worked great. A few years ago we moved to another town and left the Plymouth at our old house. I just recently re-aquired it from our old home, but it hasn't turned over in about 5-6 years... What do I need to do prior to attempting a crank over? The battery does not work, I guess rather than buy a new one, I can put distelled water in it?. I apologize, i'm 26 years old and I haven't turned a wrench on a car in my life.... I was in love when I found this site and i've been anxiously waiting for my approval to post.... I need your help guys!!!!

[Young Ed]

Pull the spark plugs and shoot some light oil over on top of the pistons. You have to angle the oil gun. Marvel mystery oil or ATF will work. I would then put a socket on the crank hub nut and try to turn the engine by hand.

[greg g]

Only sitting for 6 years, should fire right up.

I would think that a battery is in order, as a first step. Or you could try to charge that one but it probably won't give satisfactory performance.

How are the brakes?? Did they work to stop the car?

Check the gas tank and see if there is a drain plug, it there is drain the old gas out.

If it has a lot of gas in it, instead of dumping it you can add it in small amounts to your street car, or you lawn mower mixing it in with new gas.

Check the oil, It will be ok to start and run the car for a bit.

put in some fresh gas, add put the new battery in NOTE THIS CAR IS POSITIVE GROUND 6Volt. the Battery cable should be about twice the size of your modern car wires. If somebody has put in skinny ones change them out ask for 1 gauge cable.

Disconect the gas line from the carburetor, and put the line into a 2 liter soda bottle. Have some one turn the key while you count the pulses of gas going in tot he bottle. It will shoot out pulses as the pump works. When youcount 12 stop, you should have about 6 to 8 ounces of gas in the bottle.

This will tell you you lines are free and your pump is working.

Reconnect the line to the carb, pour a bit of gas an ounce or so directly into the carb.

The carb has a flap at the top ( this is the choke and it should be closed when you first try to start the car) then crank the motor and se what happens. It might start right up. If it does but misses it is likely you have some stuck valves. They might free up with som eheat and running time. Check the radiator to see if there is water or coolant int he radiator.

Welcome and good luck.

[Captain Neon]

I agree. With a few precautions, she should start right up. It won't start like a modern car (ever), but, if everything was in good working condition when parked, she will start and run. My P15S sat abandoned in a potato barn for over 10 years and ran despite the fact that the battery was hooked up wrong.

I'd love to be there to help ya start her up, but, alas, I live too far away. I think many of the regulars would like to there as well. We all have our little tricks and incantations at start up when pulling our cars out of storage. May I suggest using 12v just to get her started and then disconnect the 12v jumpers and run on 6v?

[Brendan D25]

Welcome to the forum, looks like a nice car with family history. Is there an antique car club in your area? Maybe you could find somebody local who will help you out. I love it when younger guys who are into old cars come around to help them out. That said, there will be also lots of help on this forum, fire away with any questions you might have, lots of expertise and understanding here. Did you try turning it over by hand first? After 6 yrs. it can stick. Remove the spark plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders before trying to start it.

[1940plymouth]

Alaska48,

This is my first posting on this site, I have a 1940 Plymouth business coupe, not restored greatly, but my "Driveable Dream"

I was stationed in Alaska in 1970 and '71 while in the Air Force. Beautiful state. I have always wanted to go back, but at this point haven't made it as of yet.

Good luck with the '48 and keep us posted,

Bob

[Johnny S]

Very nice looking car. I like the idea of trying to hand turn the engine first before trying to crank it with the battery. If the engine is stuck a little it may save actually bending something ....... and bending something in the engine isn't a good thing at all. If it doesn't turn that first day you may want to let the oil or ATF sit for a day or two before trying again.

A little (not a "lot") light weight oil or ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) as suggested above in another posting, put in the cylinders after you remove the spark plugs, should be sufficient. There are six spark plugs running down the top of the engine. Note that they all sit in a little depression in the head of the engine. Make absolutely sure those little depressions are completely cleaned out before you pull the spark plugs out. You don't want ANYTHING (other than the lite oil) to go inside the engine. And, make sure you put the same spark plug wire (attached to the top of the spark plug) back on the same cylinder it came off of. Mark and number them if you think you may have problems sorting that out. You can always remove the masking tape later. Also, before you stick your hands into the area around the fan (front of the motor) be sure you have either disconnected the battery or pulled the wire off the distributor (drivers side) so the engine doesn't "decide" to start when you try and turn it over by hand. Often you can then just grab the belt that drives the water pump (attached to the fan) on both sides and turn it from there. Otherwise you may need to resort to a getting the correct size of socket and turning the engine using the big nut on the front end of the crankshaft. Its located at the lower end of the engine, in front, behind the radiator and below the fan. I'm thinking its at least a 1 7/8 inch nut ..... they may vary some ... don't know that for sure however.

As for using 12 volts to jump start the car. Unless you are really clear on how to hook up the battery between your car (6 volts positive ground) and the 12 volt battery (generally in a 12 V Negative ground car/truck) I suggest you get assistance from someone who has done this before but only after you have hand turned the engine. You could blow the battery up by doing it backwards and if the engine is in fact stuck the 12 V hit to the starter could "bend" stuff .... and bending stuff is bad

Once you get the "starting" thing out of the way there will be lots of other questions to ask. This is the place to ask them. If the gang here doesn't know (which would surprise me) I'm sure someone will figure it out and then we all learn something new!

John

[NatesSedan]

Great post JohnnyS. Its good to remember to tell him about stuff like numbering the spark plugs and not getting ANYTHING besides oil in there since he hasn't turned a wrench.

Alaska- I turned my first wrench a little over a year ago at age 35. I was lucky enough to have my father in law helping me out. If you have someone who can help you learn that would be the easiest way. If not dont get discouraged. Pick up a manual for the car off ebay and post here frequently. You will be surpised at how fast you will be able to go from scratching your head to diagnosing problems.

Another good thing to do if your serious about learning. I am a nut job and submerge myself in learning even when I am not actually working on the car.

Visit www.howstuffworks.com . Look up engine, brakes, steering, or darn near anything and sit and read. It is important to understand how a car operates and all the seperate parts make the whole. Especially when Diagnosing. Most of all enjoy the car. go out to the garage...turn on some tunes and have fun. Part 2 is talking to your car and understanding her attitude but I dont want to scare you away Welcome aboard!

[builtfercomfort]

Also don't forget to drain the old oil and put in new oil before you try to start things. The old oil may have some water in it that you want gone first. If there is a grease cup in the generator make sure that is filled, and hopefully the rest of the forum will chime in on what else should be greased before expecting it to run on its own.

Also make sure the carb linkage moves freely and more importantly the springs work -- when you let off the gas pedal the carb does not stay wide open. Learned that one the hard way too...

[Alaska48]

I am excited to see all the posts when I woke up this morning, Once I get off of work, i'm going to get going on the car! It sounds from the posts, I should not try to salvage my battery? I have seen other threads with people saying an Optima battery would be best, I don't want to do any 12v conversions, I want to try and keep it as original as possible... is that the brand most people reccomend? or is that the only brand that is available now?

[Lou Earle]

What I would do ,and have done to get one started. Each has his own method ,but I like this one:

get something to shoot oil into the cylinder chamber- I use a big hypodermic needle attached to a plastic disposable big syringe- and bend the needle in a curve so I can get it to the cylinder area. The I put in marvel mystery oil about a table spoon full in each cylinder and loosely screw the plugs back in and leave it about 8 to 12 hours. meanwhile I change the oil to the cheapest oil I have around.

Now attach a battery remove the plugs and try and crank it- using 6 volt battery. If it turns over crank it about 5 or 10 seconds and let it rest. Then crank it while watching the oil pressure gage- when it stats moving you now have the bearings lubricated .

Now remove the distributor noting after u take the cap off noting ON A PIECE OF PAPER the position of the rotor button IE-10 12 or 2 O'Clock for instance.

Install new points and condenser- Napa always has them - set gap at 20 thous.

re install the distributor wit rotor pointing at same place as removed.

Install new plugs gapped at 35 use auto lite R's.

Pour some ()no more than 2- 3 oz.-gas in the carb and let it sit a minute.

now try and crank her up. If it fires and runs a bit u are getting close to a running engine.

Now remover old gas and put 3-5 gallons new gas in tank. Disconnect the fuel line from the carb and also disable the distributor by removing the wire going to the distributor from your power - IE the side NOT going to the distributor- now crank her some and see if you have gas finally coming out of the fuel line - if so hook her up and give it a try - you will probably be very surprised It will run you might need to choke it a bit but it will run.

Please get a service manual - the best money you Will ever spend on any car u are going to work on

Best of luck .

Lou

PS

At a model a meet a few years ago we followed this procedure in starting a model A Ford that t had been sitting 20 + years. It had bee shot with oil the night before - took us between 30 and 45 minutes to have the engine running good.

[randroid]

Alaska,

First thing, RUN! RUN WHILE YOU CAN! This starts as a hobby and easily becomes an obsession!

Okay, you've been warned and you're still here? Then welcome. Hum a few bars of the Wiffenpoof song and hunker-down for the ride.

There are many brands of batteries available. Most are for farm\industrial applications but I've gotten them from NAPA and other sources. You'll find them to be a little more pricey than 12 volt but also a lot heavier, which accounts for some of the price if you need any justification. Optima is generally agreed to be the best, and you'll pay for the quality, but I've not heard anybody say they weren't worth it. I don't have one but I'm very hard on batteries due to personal sloth. When I put my '48 P-15 back on the road this summer (after it's painted) I'll probably go with an Optima and amend my habits.

Good luck, and, again, welcome!

-Randy

[Young Ed]

My 27.99 6v battery is on its 8th summer now. Even if it died tomorrow I'd go buy another one(they are up to 29.99 now) before spending 3 times that for an optima. The optima would have to last an awefully long time for me to see it as worthwhile.

[greg g]

Go to your local farm store and tell you need a group 1 6 v tractor battery. If the ask you what its for tell em a Ford 9N, chances are if you tell its for some fancy antique car they will charge you more. I got mine from a place locally that sell factory 2nd excides. some case scatches and decals on crooked. I think I got my last one for 24 bucks, 4 years ago. Its on the trickle charger to wake it up from its winter nap.

But before I put the charger on I switched on the headlights, the one (dagnab it) that came on was nice and bright, so I probably could have started it without the charge, but this will get the juices flowing.

Also go over to the Imperial club website. They have a tech and maintanence section with all the old original chrysler mechanics tip books uploaded. There should be one covering tune ups and engine stuff. It will be slanted toward the Chrysler engines but systems wise except for automatic choke things will be very similar to your engine.

http://imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/012/cover.htm

[TodFitch]

My 27.99 6v battery is on its 8th summer now. Even if it died tomorrow I'd go buy another one(they are up to 29.99 now) before spending 3 times that for an optima. The optima would have to last an awefully long time for me to see it as worthwhile.

My 5 (almost 6) year old conventional battery cost a bit more. But I agree: The Optima would have to last an awfully long time for me to see it as worthwhile too.

[James_Douglas]

If the car has the original type generator DO NOT USE THE OPTIMA as some original type voltage regulators are NOT compatible with the Optima. Search the forum files for threads on the subject.

Make sure you put some oil in the cylinders and turn it over (all plugs out) with a socket wrench. Some of the cylinders sat with the valve open to the air and those cylinders will have some light surface rust on them. Oil will help those cylinders from having the rings hang on the surface rust possible hurting the rings.

Then do what the other folks suggested.

Good Luck, James

PS. To all, I suggest we come up with a consensus post on how to start a car that has been sitting for more than 24 months. We get this question from time to time and a single post checklist as a sticky posting makes sense. What do folks think?

[Alaska48]

Ok, so I got the spark plugs off (making sure to vaccum very carefully to not let any dirt fall into the holes) and put in a bit of marvel mystery in each hole, and I was doing a hand-crank of the engine (with battery removed), did a few turns and then I started to hear a whooshing or "liquid moving" sound.... is this good or bad? What did I do? Sorry, I know i'm out in left field, but I would appreciate any speculation or advise....

[mackster]

Ok, so I got the spark plugs off (making sure to vaccum very carefully to not let any dirt fall into the holes) and put in a bit of marvel mystery in each hole, and I was doing a hand-crank of the engine (with battery removed), did a few turns and then I started to hear a whooshing or "liquid moving" sound.... is this good or bad? What did I do? Sorry, I know i'm out in left field, but I would appreciate any speculation or advise....

well is spinning! that's good news already. now get a battery on this bad boy and give it a crank... prime the carb and see what it does. It has not been sitting for too long...It should fire up.

[Johnny S]

My initial reaction is THAT'S GREAT! You are most likely hearing the sound of the pistons moving up and down and creating air flow into and out of the spark plug openings. The "plugs out" routine takes most of the resistance, which is caused by the compression of air within the cylinder when the plug are in, out of the process. However, the pistons continue to move air in and out of the spark plug openings in part causing the sound you are hearing. It should sound a little "sloppy". One of the greatest sounds nature ever created.

[greg g]

suggest you add some more MMO, then go get the battery, then hook it up and turn the engine over witht he battery 3 or 4 ten second bursts with some more MMO every other one. Good time to check your fule flow also. then put the plugs in and give her a go.

[Reg Evans]

Should we tell him about Bon Ami yet? Cool car by the way.

[Niel Hoback]

Don't mention the Bon-ami. I did once, but I think I got away with it.

I'm betting that old flat head will come to life on the first attempt. Six years isn't a long time to sit. Their durability will impress you.

[BobT-47P15]

Hi Alaska.....I see you're getting good advice from several sources.

I have purchased my last 6 volt batteries from a battery specialty store,

but the farm supplies are also a good place. The regular type battery should

last several years. Remember, these cars are Positive ground. Looks like a

nice enough car, you can proceed to spiff it up over time.

Those white metal wheel trim rings are a good period item....they gave the

effect of having whitewall tires. If you continue to hang around on this

forum, you will learn lots of things about your car. I've had my 47 since

1973, and have found out things I had no idea about as I'm not a very

good mechanic. so.....welcome, and keep asking. Bob

[james curl]

One thing that I do is get a 1 or 2 gal gas can and fill it with new gas. Take the fuel line from the gas tank off of the fuel pump. Remove the fitting and replace with one with a 1/4" or 3/8" hose bib, install a short length on rubber hose onto the bib and the other end into the gasoline in the can. That way you know about the gas, and it will be good to go.

[Alaska48]

Since it sounds like i'm okay with the manual engine crank procedure, I figured my next two tasks were to drain the gas (if any) in the tank, and then get a battery. I decided that I am going to try the Sam's Club route tonight. Anchorage does not have many options for batteries... especially 6 volts.... I went to Walmart, Fred Meyer and Schucks (car store) and they all had nothing, I've read on other threads that people have gone the Sam's club way so I have my fingers crossed.

I tried to sipheon the gas with a pump I bought but I could not get any out of the tank, I guess i'm going to have to go the drain plug way? Or can I just assume there is no gas in the tank?