First issue-When we played with it yesterday, it acted like it might start/run, but Dad thought it was out of time some, so I picked up a distributor wrench and a battery charger (we'd run the battery down trying to start it when we were still pouring gas into the carb).
Started today with a fresh charge on the battery, and Dad playing with the timing while I tried to start it. The pickup was still flooding bad- so Dad and I pulled the top off the carb, adjusted the float a couple of times to get it to function right, and viola! The old motor kicked off and ran on her own. If the old oil gauge is right, the oil pressure seems pretty good at idle, but doesn't much change as you rev it up.
That's the good news...
Here's the bad:
The engine's got a knock on the bottom. Sounds like toward the front of the motor- Dad thinks (and I agree) that it's got a rod out- probably a bearing. So, we do get to pull the engine and tear it down for some machine work and a rebuild. I knew this was likely, but was hopeful...
As bad engine news goes, though, it could be worse. It's not locked up, it does run/idle, etc., so it's probably a "minor" rebuild. Of course, if you're going to tear it down, it doesn't make much sense not to do it all!
My Father-in-Law will be here later this week, and I'll probably have him listen to it too. He has mentioned before that he's got another Chevy 6 cylinder in his shop that's already rebuilt- with split exhaust manifolds. That might be the way to go. IF we rebuild this one, I'll likely do that to it anyway.
So, that's the update. While I'm figuring out what to do with the engine, I might start going through the brake system- since it's pretty clear that I'll have to do that eventually, anyway.
I won't be driving it before school starts- but it did run on it's own!
