Okay new guy here. Not so new to cars and mechanics. I have a '64 Riv in my moms garage that was bought new by my grandfather that's now dead (him and the Riv). At any rate the Goal will to be to put the car back on the road. Its been sitting for years without even being turned over. Suggestion have been to prime the engine with oil before even attempting to crank it over. Doing so by using a drill through the distributor. So far its the very early stages of getting this up and running. But a quick Google some how landed me here to this site. I know its been painted once and had some "rust" repaired before the respray. The floors are rotted out and he had a "Brace" welded in so his ass wouldn't drag when he drove it. Other then a set of rear speakers she is bone stock. She has plenty of potential. A guy came by once with my great uncle, who shows chevy's, my uncle not the guy, and said he'd tow it away and give my mom $1000. He felt it was too far gone to be worth repairing... There's little to know surface rust and from twenty feet (and a cocktail or two) you'd think it was cherry! Anyway I'll be coming around here as time permits to bug you guys about where to buy parts and some "how would you do this type of thing". I'll troll a bit and may even be able to offer some advice and help too. The cars not far from where I live but it won't be like I can just go into my garage and start working on it. I asked the wife if we could tow it home and she said where would I park in the winter? I need a three+ car garage...maybe one day...
Welcome to the club. Fortunately for you there is some aftermarket support for the 1st Gen Rivs. Good luck with your quest.
This is going to be a rather LONG reply, but be patient. 1st, pull the dipstick & check to see how the oil level is. 2nd. pull the filter & see what drains out. Make sure the gasket is in place & re-install if nec. & install filter. 3rd. drain the oil into a container to see what comes out & how much. What we are doing is checking to see if the oil has turned into "Jelly". 4th. if the oil drained out approximates the amount on the dipstick your good to go. Depending on how the oil smells you could put it back or replace with new. At this point all you need to add is 4qts. If the oil drained out does NOT match the approx. amount on dipstick ( i:e:- dipstick reads full but only one qt. came out) the oil has jellied & the pan needs to be removed for cleaning. Basically the pan comes off easy. We can go through that step if nec. 5th. pull the plug wires & loosen the plugs. DO NOT REMOVE YET. Blow any dirt/debris from the plug areas so NO grit falls into the cylinders. Now remove. 6th. add a mixture of ATF/Marvel Mystery Oil/PBlaster or WD40 & acetone into the cylinders. You need enough to cover the pistons to help loosen/de-solve any rust inside. Let this sit for AT LEAST A FEW DAYS. What we are trying to do is prevent/not cause any damage to rings/pistons upon initial engine turn over. Re-install plugs Finger tight.. 7th. now you can remove dist. Mark rotor location. Upon removal the rotor will turn. Mark this location also. Remove the valve covers to check for oil at the rocker assemblies. Now turn the oil pump over, clockwise, with the drill until oil starts coming out the assemblies. Re-install the dist. lining up the previous marks. You may need to turn the oil pump shaft. 8th. remove the spark plugs & flywheel cover & with a large screwdriver try to turn the crank. If it won't turn try rocking it back & forth until some movement starts to occur. Continue this until it frees itself up. May take a few days at diff. locations to de-solve any rust. If it turn fairly easy from the beginning continue until you've made a few revolutions or you can turn it with a socket at the front of the crank. Oil will start to come out of the cylinders. Put something under the engine to catch SOME of the oil. 9th. remove the fuel inlet from the pump & the outlet at the carb. Put a bottle or something, rags, to catch any fuel, doubtful, that may come out. 10th. remove the yellow & purple wires from the connector at the terminal block. This is located at the end of the positive battery cable. Remove the red wires under the battery cable at the terminal/junction block. These feed power to the car. At this point you don't know the condition of the cars wiring & you don't want to start any fires because mice were chewing wiring. At this moment we AREN'T trying to start the engine just seeing if it will turn. Install a GOOD battery. If you connect a jumper wire from the purple wire at the connector that leads to the starter you can touch the other end to the post where the battery cable attaches & the starter should activate. Just touch it momentarily as oil will come shooting out the cylinders. You could put rags over the plug holes to try & catch some of this oil. It WILL MAKE A MESS. 11th. Now using the starter crank the engine over continuously, without the plugs installed,until you see oil coming from the rockers. Install the valve covers. More oil will come from the cylinders. 12th. get a gallon container with FRESH fuel & hook it to the inlet of the pump. Crank the engine until fresh fuel comes out the carb. inlet hose & is clean. Check for leaks. 13th. Clean, gap & install plugs or just get new ones. Check the points. This could have been done when the dist. was removed. Clean off any corrosion from the point contacts. Lube the rubbing block & set the gap. 14th. remove negative battery cable. Install wiring at junction/terminal block. Re-connect yellow & purple wires. Install battery cable. When you install cable there should be NO major sparks occurring. 15th. try turning the engine over with the key momentarily. Be aware of anything odd that may be happening. 16th. if the carb. doesn't puke fuel out all over the place you can NOW try to start the engine. At this point it will have only cost you time & a few $$$$$. If you get impatient & try cranking the engine with the starter BEFORE these steps it's very possible you can cause damage that may require an engine rebuild prematurely. GOOD LUCK. HOPE EVERYTHING WORKS OUT OK!!!!!
