First start after 35 years

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lm782

lm782

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Location
Boston, MA
New to the forum. I look forward to getting to know some of you (at least virtually), learning more about Mopars, and getting my father in-law’s 1969 340 4-speed Swinger with 57k miles on the road.

He is the original owner, can’t drive it anymore and has stored it in an unheated garage for roughly 35 years. By-and-large it is all original. He put it away with a full tank of gas and has done little to it since. My mission is to have him ride in it again before it’s too late.

My biggest challenge is that the car is outside of Chicago, and I live in the Boston area. My in-laws are not ready to relocate the car yet (and ride in it when they come visit). Whatever work I do (at least on this initial start), must be choreographed when we visit them, or done by someone else (and I don’t relish that idea).

To the best of my knowledge, it hasn’t started in about 35 years. Here’s what I’ve picked up so far, from various sources, on what to do for its initial start:
· Pull the plugs, spray Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder.
· Spray Mystery oil through the carburetor (the oil will get past the intake manifold and make it to the valves).
· Turn the engine over by hand and let it sit a day (allowing the oil to penetrate).
· Repeat process a number of times (5-7) and the engine should be easier to turn over.
· In the interim, drain the fuel tank.
· Fill the tires (help with ground clearance in case we need to get underneath).
· If there’s no fuel tank drain, disconnect the fuel line from the carburetor and use a pump to drain the tank (I need recommendations on how to do that, what pump…? ).
· Check the engine oil to make sure it doesn’t have any obvious contamination.
· If oil looks reasonable, ok to use for an initial start but plan on changing it shortly thereafter. It might be a good idea to add SeaFoam (or Mystery oil, or ATF) to the oil as an engine cleanser before changing it.
· Make all the necessary connections (plugs, new/recharged battery…).
· Roll it outside, if possible.
· Add SeaFoam (or other similar cleanser) with new gas to help clean out the tank, lines and carburetor.
· Alternatively on FABO I found, “…actually use two stroke gas pour some down the carb and filled the bowl. Fire it right up, let it smoke for a few it will clear right up… if the rings, valves, and seals are still good.” (I don’t know how to fill the bowl. Won’t the fuel pump do that?)
· Prime oil pump by disconnecting coil wire and turn it over for a bit.
· Reconnect coil and start it up.

From there the real work begins; replacing brakes, lines, assessing fuel system, coolant, dual points, tuning…

Any suggestions what else I need to think about or plan for?

Many thanks.
 
Welcome and congrats on what sounds like a cool ride! I'm in the near western suburbs of Chicago. What part of the Chicago Metro area is the car located at?

Pat
 
No don't leave that oil in there. Change it before you do anything. There is a way to prime the oil pump, but you have to take the distributor out and use a special tool with a drill. It will send oil all through the engine. New fuel and filter- The tires are no good anymore and will blow out. There are other products that you can spray in the cylinders. Just a few ideas. Others will chime in on weather its safe to turn the motor over after that long
 
-- :welcome: -- From Pa. -- Good luck with The Swinger. -- Lots of help, here.
 
Shoot a little lube in cylinders, change oil and filter, drain fuel and replace with fresh (DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN ON OLD VARNISHED FUEL), pull distributor and prime engine and fire it up. Should be good to go.. Now brakes and tires are a whole 'nother discussion.. Firing a long sitting engine has seldom been a big problem for me.
 
Ben Drinkin said:
Shoot a little lube in cylinders, change oil and filter, drain fuel and replace with fresh (DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN ON OLD VARNISHED FUEL), pull distributor and prime engine and fire it up. Should be good to go.. Now brakes and tires are a whole 'nother discussion.. Firing a long sitting engine has seldom been a big problem for me.
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Thanks for the warm welcome. Changing the oil it is, as well as fresh gas. Sounds like the engine itself may need less work than I imagined.

Any suggestions on where I can find the right tools and process to pull 18 gallons of old gas out of it? Doesn’t sounds like syphoning will do the trick. Same question on how to pull the distributor and prime the oil pump...?

Although I used to work on cars regularly years ago, my brain feels like the Tin Man’s elbows here.
 
pull the supply line off the pump and have it lay in a mortar tub. Pull the gas cap and blow the tank with shop vac air. Itll start to run out the line and will siphon the rest out. 18G of stinky turpentine is a lot of toxic waste. Run it in your slant!
 
You might want to rig up a gas can under the hood to the pump, until you can confirm the tank can be reused. It might be nasty in there.. You could even gravity fill the carb with the gas can a couple days before you try to start it to moisten up the internal parts.
 
Gas tank full is heavy, I just put a 2 x 6 on top of floor jack, take tank lose, lower it and pour out that nasty old varnished gas. The gas tank being full helps it not rust, but that bad gas is BAD!!
After bore has soaked a day or so, try just rocking the engine back and forth before trying to turn it over. Soak carb over nite with SeaFoam, when it does start, it will smoke like crazy. SeaForm might soften those hardened things in the carb.
Lke said, drain and replace that OLD oil. It collects moisture. Yep tires are rotten.
 
Thanks so much. Some of my other challenges are space and tools. Dropping the tank in place will be difficult. I'll empty it there (mortar tub sounds like a great idea) and rig up a temporary can under the hood. Will look at the carb to see how sticky it is, plan on spraying it down and read up on how to gravity fill a Carter AVS.

Yes, the tires are gonzo. I'm adding a few pictures so you can see the car and confines of where I'm working (let alone 1500 miles from home and my tools); one picture includes a tire. I hope they hold enough air so we can roll it out to start (I expect plenty of blue smoke for a bit) and onto a flat bed so we can start working on it.

I found info online on how to prime the pump and per-circulate oil. After changing the oil, looks like all I need is to pull the distributor and use a hardened 5/16" hex rod with a drill.

Will also start doing some reading on dual point distributors...
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Thanks. I look forward to driving the 340 4-speed combo, hopefully within a year... I can't wait to see my father in-law in it again. My wife remembers riding in it as a kid. We were married ten years before we finally went to go see it and - wow! If I recall correctly it has a Sure-Grip 3.23 diff.

There are more significant cars, but he did a fantastic job when ordering this one. I had no idea he was such a gearhead. He has all the paperwork, including the original order form. The AM radio was the second most expensive option. He Zeibhart rustproofed it when new (the black stuff you see under the hood on the inner fenders in the picture above) so there's relatively little rust.

He sent me a copy of an SAE article Chrysler published on the 340 in 1968 by JW Dean and HM Casebeer. Great read for anyone that wants to know how the engine was developed, and some of the engineering and manufacturing challenges along the way.

The interior is in great shape. I didn't take a picture of the dash, but don't recall any cracks and the headliner is tight. I attached a few other pictures: back of a front wheel-well and 1/4 panel, the front seat, and inside the trunk.

He ordered a two-tone paint option. The roof is black paint, not vinyl. I've not seen many Darts like that. Far as I can tell, that's not an option many people went for.

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Yea, rare with that painted roof. Even the trunk mat looks perfect
 
lm782 said:
Thanks so much. Some of my other challenges are space and tools. Dropping the tank in place will be difficult. I'll empty it there (mortar tub sounds like a great idea) and rig up a temporary can under the hood. Will look at the carb to see how sticky it is, plan on spraying it down and read up on how to gravity fill a Carter AVS.

Yes, the tires are gonzo. I'm adding a few pictures so you can see the car and confines of where I'm working (let alone 1500 miles from home and my tools); one picture includes a tire. I hope they hold enough air so we can roll it out to start (I expect plenty of blue smoke for a bit) and onto a flat bed so we can start working on it.

I found info online on how to prime the pump and per-circulate oil. After changing the oil, looks like all I need is to pull the distributor and use a hardened 5/16" hex rod with a drill.

Will also start doing some reading on dual point distributors...
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WAY FKN COOL man
 
how nice is the boot/trunk,
VERY NICE FIND MATE!!!
.................................how are the fuel lines and filter, also the brake lines?
 
just had to look at those Pics again, that is SO nice, you just wouldnt find a car like that year in anywhere that condition given the frost and rain we get here in Oz
BEAUTIFUL, im in love ;)
cool story too!
 
WOW, what a time capsule !! If you do a search on here (or maybe someone will chime in) in regards to priming the engine oil using a drill, I think its TDC, oils left rockers, rotate engine to 35 degrees, oils right side rockers, but i'm not sure of the exact one. Also if you drop the tank after draining it, and remove the sender, you will need to replace the sender o-ring, so plan ahead.
 
I would have people starting to collect one gallon milk jugs LOL this last winter I had bought an old rig and had to empty all the gas out and put it in all the jugs that I had and took it to the toxic waste dump and it only cost five bucks.
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LOL sometimes you got to do what you got to do. Those jugs in the back behind the squirt bottle that look like to have just a little in it? Those are full that's just the different color of sludge that was in the gas.
As someone who does car Restorations I can tell you it's all about the rubber. Rubber rubber rubber rubber! Everything will probably need to be changed. After some use you might find out that the seals in the motor and transmission won't be happy because of all the big dry spots from not getting lubricated for 35 years. so don't freak out if you start getting oil leaks quickly not bad ones but seeps. You may down the road just want to replace some of the rubber seals.
 
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