i just became the new owner of a 68 criss craft , the motors havent been started for 8 years , any advise?

drain tanks

flush lines

put in fresh gas hit with some AMSOIL powerfoam in carb..and fire up??

worked on my old 283 in my Chris

283's are small blocks You should probably also do a good tune up, oil change & a carb rebuild may be needed.. Jamie / lakeside

Is it a roamer?

The old 283 Chris motor has solid lifters,, if it has set for 8yrs it might have the rings froze to the pistons ,,, I had to pour some of my Vodka and Orange juice down the Carb so there was enough compression to light off the Starting fluid ,, that was after 2 starters were burned up,,,, dont try to re-wire that thing ,,, it is installed backwards ,,, wow ,, what great memeories that thing was,,,, after it fired we ran it for about 1hr and the rings loosened up and it was a very good motor ,,,, have fun !!!

RHC

Simple enough to put a breaker bar on the balancer bolt and see if the motor will turn over by hand first to see if the rings are stuck. If so, pull the plugs and shoot some penetrating lube in and let soak.

Try these sites for a lot of info and a good resource for parts too:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cccommander/

Marvel Mystery Oil is THE best down the plug hole to free up an engine. Trust me.

I know this works on Pontiac engines, and I think it will work on Chevy's, too. Take the handle off a blade screwdriver, and put the driver in your drill chuck. Take out the distributor, and put the blade down the hole until it contacts the oil pump shaft. Turn on the drill motor, and build up some oil pressure for about a minute. Now your bearings are primed with oil, so they won't start up dry. I would also put some oil in the cylinders, too, as others have mentioned.

Michael

prime the **** out of em