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Hello, my father has a 396 that's been bored over to a 402, and from what I've been told it was a drag motor. Problem is it's been sitting for 30+ Years. What are some of the first steps I need to do to know if it's still good. I know it was preped to sit after it was taken out of the original car. Thanks in advance for the help.
Welcome to CHR Braker! I guess the first thing I would consider doing is put the engine on a stand, pull the heads and oil pan and give things a good look-see. After sitting that long it's very easy for condensation to form and produce rust on the cylinders and other finished surfaces. If the engine is a keeper, definitely worth the price of some gaskets to make sure things are ok!!!!
Often, when storing a motor like this, the owner will not back off all the rocker adjustment nuts to relax all the valve springs. This results in junk valve springs that have taken a set, so you may have to replace all valve springs. Front and rear crank seals will have dried out and should be replaced before the motor goes back into service. If the motor were mine, I would disassemble it completely to measure everything and determine the route I would take on reassembly. You'll want to determine the static compression ratio before you can intelligently choose a camshaft to replace the race cam.
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Thanks guys
or you could put some marvel mistery oil in the cylinders and see if you can turn it over----------if so, put fresh oil/filter in it, get some fresh gas, starting fluid and crank it up-------