As I stated in the Welcome section, last week I rescued a 1970 Newport from having it's 383 pulled and the rest crushed. It has 60,000 original miles, never driven in snow, and has been sitting in a garage since 2000. I put a battery in it and it turned over really slowly. I pulled the plugs, shot some oil into the cylinders, and tried again. It still turned over "too slow", even with no plugs. I was told to get a newer starter, those funky looking ones. I went to the parts store and just asked for a $60 rebuilt and they indeed gave me one of the newer styles. Bolted right up fine. I replaced the battery cables and the spark plugs at the same time. I unhooked the fuel line and ran it into an empty soda bottle, not knowing what was going to get delivered from teh pump. I primedthe carb and it fired right up... for a few seconds, as you'd expect. I knew it hadn't been started in 13 years but the owner did say he TRIED to start it this summer. In those few seconds, the soda bottle half filled with gas from the tank, which actually smelled current. A little cloudy maybe, but definitely not 13 year old varnish. I hooked the line back up and fired it up again. It runs smoothly, a little stumbly when you lightly hit the gas pedal... likes to stall. That will likely work itself out in time. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions anyway, I'll see if running it with fresh gas helps it. It sounds like crap right at the moment; it has an exhaust leak that I haven't investigated but you can definitely hear it. I did drive it around the lawn a little (I have a 3 acre lawn). Not much, as the fuel gauge needle was pegged hard on 'E'.
Besides the starter, plugs, and battery cables, I'm not seeing a whole lot it needs. No doubt the most expensive thing will be the power brake booster. The pedal is hard as a rock and when I hold the brake pedal down when it's running, I can hear a hissing like a vaccuum leak. I'm assuming the booster is leaking.
Dumb stuff otherwise; the dimmer switch is frozen solid, there's a few little interior trim items that either need to be repaired or replaced, one headrest and one armrest have severe discoloration, the plastic trim piece at the base of the front seat near the seat belt retractor is cracked.... dumb little stuff. The vent controls up by the heater control are stuck solid (nto sure what to do there).
I really like it.
Besides the starter, plugs, and battery cables, I'm not seeing a whole lot it needs. No doubt the most expensive thing will be the power brake booster. The pedal is hard as a rock and when I hold the brake pedal down when it's running, I can hear a hissing like a vaccuum leak. I'm assuming the booster is leaking.
Dumb stuff otherwise; the dimmer switch is frozen solid, there's a few little interior trim items that either need to be repaired or replaced, one headrest and one armrest have severe discoloration, the plastic trim piece at the base of the front seat near the seat belt retractor is cracked.... dumb little stuff. The vent controls up by the heater control are stuck solid (nto sure what to do there).
I really like it.
