71 abandoned 318

[Oppose.o]

Hi everyone, been a couple years since I posted on here but I finnaly have the money and intelligence to start working on this I've got a 71 sattelite Sebring plus with a 318, I just used a rachet on the flywheel and it turns smoothly and is not locked up. Where do I go from here? Ik the basic principle of fuel, air, and spark, but what about all these random hoses and wires? I'm going to get a battery, battery cables, plug wires, spark plugs, new oil, valve cover gaskets, and try to rebuild or get a new Carb to start it initially. I saw a vid on junkyard digs of an identical plymouth where he just hotwired it, so I will do that until I can get a steering wheel puller to replace the ignition cylinder. I'm afraid to get all that and start it with all these random hoses and wires everywhere though, could someone help identify the important ones? And any general tips on what to do at this point? It's pretty overwhelming looking at an engine with this many extras with little mechanical knowledge (it has ac, power steering, engine heater, emissions stuff, etc). Thanks!

 

[RemCharger]

Make sure you roll it over enough times to confirm there isn't a stuck valve

 

[Oppose.o]

Make sure you roll it over enough times to confirm there isn't a stuck valve

Done. Turns good and can hear the cylinders moving

 

[493 Mike]

Well, I don't see any heater hoses, there appears to be a mud dabber nest in the air cleaner to breather hose, no PVC hose and the valve is broken. I would get some help and prelube the engine before trying to start, to be safe. It looks like the top radiator hose is off the radiator, probably no coolant in the system. The smaller hose at the rear of the carburetor?
Mike

 

[rickseeman]

You didn't say how long it has been sitting. I am in the process of starting 5 old Mopars (2 Challengers and 3 Road Runners) that haven't been started in over 25 years. It's amazing how few of problems we've had. We've got 3 running and 2 to go. It's been fun. I'm not going to say what we did is right, I'm just telling you what we did. The owner didn't want to tear them down or spend any money. He admitted to us that he's never going to drive them, but he feels bad about neglecting them for so long. The first thing we did was go to Wal-Mart and get some cans of WD-40 that have the bendable metal hose nozzle. That way you can spray all around in the cylinder. Then we let it sit a week. One of them we had to hot wire because he didn't have the keys. If you are comfortable removing the distributor you should prime the oil system. You can remove the valve covers and squirt some oil on the valve stems. He changed the oil in one first. One of them had a stuck oil pressure relief valve and ballooned the oil filter then blew out the oil filter gasket and dumped all the oil on the ground. 1 fuel system worked. Another one we filled the float bowls on the carburetor. The other one we ran a hose from the fuel pump to a 1 gallon jug. We had ignition issues on one. I see your carb is off. That's good. You can avoid the sitting carb problems. The owner of these cars hates Holleys. He said they always leak. When we started the 6-pak Challenger those 3 Holleys looked like the fountain at Ceasars Palace, fuel was going everywhere. We finally had to disconnect the outboards and just run the center carb. When we started this project I never dreamed these things would start. But now we think we are the masters of the universe and can do anything. A 70 Road Runner is next. Then his favorite car is last. A 69 Road Runner that he can't remember when it started last. It was either late 70's or late 80's. I told him no problem.

 

[Bird 426]

For me, the car needs to be restored. I am outside of the Roadkill box. It's not just the engine compartment that needs to be done, brakes, fuel, tires, wiring, interior, etc. At my age, it's a no go. How old are you and do you have the money? Or, do you have the time? Pour all of that money into it and still have what we see in the pictures.
Just my opinion of course.

 

[YY1]

What's it like inside the cowl panel, and the quarters?

"Restoration" of a 71 318 car is probably not worth it.

Getting it running and driving as a priority is probably the right course of action.

 

[Oppose.o]

You didn't say how long it has been sitting. I am in the process of starting 5 old Mopars (2 Challengers and 3 Road Runners) that haven't been started in over 25 years. It's amazing how few of problems we've had. We've got 3 running and 2 to go. It's been fun. I'm not going to say what we did is right, I'm just telling you what we did. The owner didn't want to tear them down or spend any money. He admitted to us that he's never going to drive them, but he feels bad about neglecting them for so long. The first thing we did was go to Wal-Mart and get some cans of WD-40 that have the bendable metal hose nozzle. That way you can spray all around in the cylinder. Then we let it sit a week. One of them we had to hot wire because he didn't have the keys. If you are comfortable removing the distributor you should prime the oil system. You can remove the valve covers and squirt some oil on the valve stems. He changed the oil in one first. One of them had a stuck oil pressure relief valve and ballooned the oil filter then blew out the oil filter gasket and dumped all the oil on the ground. 1 fuel system worked. Another one we filled the float bowls on the carburetor. The other one we ran a hose from the fuel pump to a 1 gallon jug. We had ignition issues on one. I see your carb is off. That's good. You can avoid the sitting carb problems. The owner of these cars hates Holleys. He said they always leak. When we started the 6-pak Challenger those 3 Holleys looked like the fountain at Ceasars Palace, fuel was going everywhere. We finally had to disconnect the outboards and just run the center carb. When we started this project I never dreamed these things would start. But now we think we are the masters of the universe and can do anything. A 70 Road Runner is next. Then his favorite car is last. A 69 Road Runner that he can't remember when it started last. It was either late 70's or late 80's. I told him no problem.

It's been sitting roughly 20 years, outside but under a carport on gravel.

 

[Oppose.o]

For me, the car needs to be restored. I am outside of the Roadkill box. It's not just the engine compartment that needs to be done, brakes, fuel, tires, wiring, interior, etc. At my age, it's a no go. How old are you and do you have the money? Or, do you have the time? Pour all of that money into it and still have what we see in the pictures.
Just my opinion of courss.

Yes, that is the plan. It would be impossible to drive this or have any sort of reliability without fully redoing the brakes, tires (which are completely rotted), fuel system, and wiring (chewed by mice). It has sentimental value as it's a family car, I don't mind spending money on it as it's a passion. The plan is to get it running, driving, then restore most of the stuff mentioned earlier, then some mods. Not gonna be the fastest or perfectly restored, I just want it to be fun and somewhat reliable. I'm 17 now and plan to get it pretty much done by the time I'm 20, and spend under 20k doing so. What do you mean "pour all the money and still have what we see in the pictures"?

 

[Oppose.o]

What's it like inside the cowl panel, and the quarters?

"Restoration" of a 71 318 car is probably not worth it.

Getting it running and driving as a priority is probably the right course of action.

Yes I do not plan on doing a full tear down restoration, just a practicle one. I'm assuming you're talking abt rust, it's almost completely rust free. Tennesee car.

 

[YY1]

You can absolutely do that for way under 20K.