Hey all, new to wrenching, total greenhorn

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Northern_Rookie

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Hey all, found the forum poking around for tips for a project I've been looking at... found and an old Plymouth outside in the farmyard. Got it open and found out it's a '74 Fury II. Silly me, figured its as goof a first project as any!

Now I'm fishing around trying to sort out where to begin, and what the heck my granddad, dad and/or uncles did to this more thing... so far, the Alternators loose under the hood, same with the power steering pump... I know the starter Dad literally robbed last year for the swather... oh and one of the battery cables is currently a set of vice grips wrapped with rubber hosing..!

Can't say it won't be interesting! Haha
 
Well: That's a tall order depending on how long it has been sitting in the field. 6 months? 6 years? I am no expert but, first I would make sure the motor is not stuck. See if it turns over by hand. Then you need to get some clean fuel in a remote tank, (maybe an outboard motor tank or similar) a new battery, some real battery cables, change the oil, flush the rad and cooling system and replace fluids. New spark plugs wouldn't hurt. Tighten up and align the alternator, ps pump and anything else that looks Mickey Moused together. Hook up your remote tank to your fuel lines in the engine compartment, Prime the carb, and see if it will turn over and perhaps run and stumble. If you can get it to start, even slightly, pull the carb and clean it up, pull the gas tank, get it flushed and go from there. What motor ? How many miles, or K's. What is the plan for the car? How much $ do you want to spend? Why did it get parked in the first place? All of these are items you need to think about.
 
Try to turn it by hand, if it does, continue.
Check the oil level,
Remove (cut) 2 fuel hoses from the fuel pump,
Cut "all" the old belts off,
Put a started and battery in it with good connections of any type,
Put the trans in park, do not set the foot operated parking brake,
Spray a few squirts of gas down the carb from a spray bottle,
Set the air cleaner lid back on,
See if it will fire and run for a few seconds ONE time if it fires, do not keep starting it,
If it does fire off, STOP, report back.
 
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Hey all! Appreciate the checklist first of all. Will try to address some of that stuff and report back. Not sure if I should make a new thread in the "Formal Years" section or continue here though.

As to some of the questions, I'll be honest my information is limited:
My first order of business will absolutely be to see if I can get it to turn by hand. I'm presuming a 1-1/4" socket and a 3ft breaker bar should tell me what I need to know.
I grabbed one battery cable already, but figured should probably take those right off so my lengths are right. One nice thing about the farm is before I go buy a battery I can always grab a donor to test stuff if needed once I get there.

I don't know why it was parked. I can check with my Dad but he may not even remember. My granddad wasn't one for putting to much into fixing or maintaining machines from what I've seen tbh. If I were to randomly guess, I'd say electrical issues. It was the family car, and it's probably been sitting for 20+ years.

That said, it won't break my heart if it's a futile project. I've always loved those long clean lines of the 60s 70s. And it's a "free" project in the sense of, I can basically do as I please. So if it can't be done, I'm only out the parts I put in. I could find I'm up the creek on body work. But my first thought is, if I can do something with the 360 engine alone even, nothing says I can't pull it for something else down the road.

As for tools etc. Some I have between myself and the farm, others I'm hoping I can borrow. Buddies Dad is a retired mechanic (also taught at a trades school) and also restores cars as a hobby so I'm hoping he's game for help (it not being a chevy not-withstanding haha)

I'm sure I sound super optimistic haha, but maybe that's one of those "ignorance is bliss" scenarios. Lol
 
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