Help Restarting A Motor Sitting For Years

Well, in my similar situation (4 years since the engine had been started), I changed the oil, the transmission fluid, rebuilt the carb and new battery. A fresh tune up wouldn't be a bad idea, spark plugs and wires, rotor and cap.

In addition, I doubt much has occured since then and now and it's more than likely ready to be started if everything is set up in a car. That car started up just fine, for me, and it is the original 1970s block with 80k miles on it, all original. The most trouble I had with the fuel pump wasn't right and the lines were all beat.

oh and gas tank, trash in it too.

1.) Change the oil and filter.
2.) Buy several quarts of Marvel Mystery oil, you're going to need it.
3.) Remove both valve covers and pour the Marvel Mystery oil over all the valve train.
4.) Pour about a cup of the Marvel Mystery oil down the intake, doing your best to see that you get several ounces in each intake runner. It may take more than just one cup.
5.) Remove all the spark plugs and pour 4-6 ounces of Marvel Mystery oil in each spark plug
6.) Remove the distributor and use a 1/4" hex socket to turn the pump counter clock wise (same direction as distributor rotation) until you see oil pressure (an external gage is a great help long about now). And keep turning for about 30 sec after you see the pressure come up. A reversible drill is the best tool to use to turn the 1/4" socket. The pressure should come up to about 50-80psi with cold oil.
7.) If the engine is on an engine stand, then turn it upside down a couple of times to let the oil run all over the internal parts.
8.) Use a 15/16" socket on the harmonic balancer bolt to gently rock the engine back and forth to break loose any stuck parts. After several rocking attempts, see if it will rotate at least 10 turns of the crankshaft freely. With the spark plugs out, crank the engine over using the electric starter. Crank the engine for enough time to see the oil pressure come up on the oil pressure gauge.
9.) Put the spark plugs back in and attempt to start the engine. Don't be surprised if you oil foul some of the spark plugs attempting to start the engine. A can of starting ether may be helpful.
10.) Run the engine 5 hours at varying speeds. Dain the oil, replace the filter. I recommend that you cut the filter can open and look for metal shavings. If you don't find any evidence of metal, you are good to go.


Some additional help for putting the distributor back in place since you will need to remove it to prime and pre-oil the engine...

Putting the distributor back in and setting the timing.


You can forget about anything beyond this point if you don't have access to a timing light. You will never get the timing set right without one.


Putting the distributor back in is fairly simple. Pull #1 sparkplug, put your finger in the sparkplug hole, crank the engine until you feel compression. Then line up the TDC mark on the balancer with the pointer on the engine block.

The distributor starts out with the #1 plug wire lined up at about 12:00 with you facing it. Align the rotor to about 11:00, since it will turn clockwise as it slides into place.

Align the distributor rotor up with the #1 position marked on the cap, slide the distributor down into the block, (you may have to wiggle the rotor slightly to get the gear to engage) and then note where the rotor is pointing.
If it still lines up with #1 position on the cap, install the clamp and bolt. If not, pull it out and turn 1 tooth forwards or backwards and try again. Put the #1 spark plug back in and tighten it down, put the clamp on the distributor, but don't tighten it too much, as you will have to move the distributor to set the timing. Note that there is no such thing as one tooth off on a 5.0 Mustang. If it doesn't align perfectly with #1 position, you can turn the distributor until it does. The only problem is that if you are too far one way or the other, you can't turn the distributor enough to get the 10-14 degree optimum timing range.


Setting the timing:
Paint the mark on the harmonic balancer with paint -choose 10 degrees BTC or 14 degrees BTC or something else if you have NO2 or other power adder. I try to paint TDC red, 10 degrees BTC white and 14 degrees BTC blue.

10 degrees BTC is towards the drivers side marks.

Note: setting the timing beyond the 10 degree mark will give you a little more low speed acceleration. BUT you will need to run 93 octane to avoid pinging and engine damage. Pinging is very hard to hear at full throttle, so it could be present and you would not hear it.

Simplified diagram of what it looks like. Not all the marks are shown for ease of viewing.

ATC ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '!' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' BTC
---------------- > Direction of Rotation as viewed standing in front of the engine.

The ' is 2 degrees.
The ! is TDC
The ' is 10 degrees BTC
Set the timing 5 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 5 marks towards the driver's side to get 10 degrees.

To get 14 degrees, set it 7 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 7 marks towards the driver's side to get 14 degrees.

The paint marks you make are your friends if you do it correctly. They are much easier to see that the marks machined into the harmonic balancer hub.

At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light. Connect timing light up to battery & #1 spark plug. Then start the engine.

Remove the SPOUT connector (do a search if you want a picture of the SPOUT connector) It is the 2 pin rectangular plug on the distributor wiring harness. Only the EFI Mustang engines have a SPOUT. If yours is not EFI, check for a SPOUT: if you don’t find one, skip any instructions regarding the SPOUT
Warning: there are only two places the SPOUT should be when you time the engine. The first place is in your pocket while you are setting the timing and the second is back in the harness when you finish. The little bugger is too easy to lose and too hard to find a replacement.

Start engine, loosen distributor hold down with a 1/2" universal socket. Shine the timing light on the marks and turn the distributor until the mark lines up with the edge of the timing pointer. Tighten down the distributor hold down bolt, Replace the SPOUT connector and you are done.

The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8

jrichker said:

1.) Change the oil and filter.
2.) Buy several quarts of Marvel Mystery oil, you're going to need it.
3.) Remove both valve covers and pour the Marvel Mystery oil over all the valve train.
4.) Pour about a cup of the Marvel Mystery oil down the intake, doing your best to see that you get several ounces in each intake runner. It may take more than just one cup.
5.) Remove all the spark plugs and pour 4-6 ounces of Marvel Mystery oil in each spark plug
6.) Remove the distributor and use a 1/4" hex socket to turn the pump counter clock wise (same direction as distributor rotation) until you see oil pressure (an external gage is a great help long about now). And keep turning for about 30 sec after you see the pressure come up. A reversible drill is the best tool to use to turn the 1/4" socket. The pressure should come up to about 50-80psi with cold oil.
7.) If the engine is on an engine stand, then turn it upside down a couple of times to let the oil run all over the internal parts.
8.) Use a 15/16" socket on the harmonic balancer bolt to gently rock the engine back and forth to break loose any stuck parts. After several rocking attempts, see if it will rotate at least 10 turns of the crankshaft freely. With the spark plugs out, crank the engine over using the electric starter. Crank the engine for enough time to see the oil pressure come up on the oil pressure gauge.
9.) Put the spark plugs back in and attempt to start the engine. Don't be surprised if you oil foul some of the spark plugs attempting to start the engine. A can of starting ether may be helpful.
10.) Run the engine 5 hours at varying speeds. Dain the oil, replace the filter. I recommend that you cut the filter can open and look for metal shavings. If you don't find any evidence of metal, you are good to go.

Click to expand...

Wow... That is prob the "right" way to do it there.