if its been sitting for less than a couple years, I wouldnt be too afraid to fire it up...pop the plugs, if all is dry in there maybe spray some oil in. my neighbors 65 (289) had sat untouched about 2.5 years before I got it- I sprayed some aerosol oil in the plug holes before trying to fire it up, after getting everything tuned up, seems no worse for wear- never noticed any smoke, dont use any oil...will tick like crazy as surely the lifters are going to be bottomed and likely stuck- I put some CD-2 additive in the gal along with fresh oil before starting it, within 15 minutes it was quiet as a churchmouse.
one other thing I did was crank it with the coil wire off until I got oil pressure light to go off...cranking dry at a couple hundred rpm for 30 seconds vs. running a few seconds at 1000 rpm without pressure might be a coin toss, but it just 'felt better' to me to crank it till it had pressure. hooked up the coil, poured some gas in the carb, fired right up for a few seconds...repeated adding gas 3 times before pump filled the carb, then it was on its own ticking away...
some old engines can get rust on the starters too- might suggest pulling the starter lubing the bendix- have heard of them sticking/not releasing the solenoid contacts, not allowing the engine to be shut down...closest to this I ever came was my F150 sticking causing one helluva gear noise as the starter gear stayed engaged probably spinning about a bizillion rpm once the engine started...but something to watch for.
If you like that old Gal already, youre gonna love that 429
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