getting 1988 bounder 31k up and running

T18skyguy wrote:

darsben1 wrote:
WD 40 IS NOT A LUBRICANT

Correct. Pull the plugs and give it one good squirt with 10-30 or 30 weight oil. Try to aim it at the cylinder wall, not the top of the piston. Gravity will make it work it's way around and down to the rings. This will keep you from wiping the rings on a dry cylinder. Do everything you can to make sure it will start on the first attempt to crank it. Good gas, clean oil, good battery, new oil filter, check the air filter. Even if you do everything right remember there's old fuel in the lines. If you change the fuel filter that will help it get fresh fuel that much sooner. Once it kicks over keep it going and watch all the gauges for pressure and temperature. No doubt you will probably have to crank it a number of times before the good fuel hits it. It's gonna smoke from the oil so don't be alarmed. You need to change the coolant too. Have another person watch the engine compartment and underneath for leaks. Good luck she should run.

This method is correct. The only thing I would add: once you have added the oil to the cylinder thru the spark plug holes, dry crank the motor with the plugs out and the new oil in place. This just lets the starter turn the motor slowly without compression and the dry cranking will allow the cylinder walls to be completely coated, plus it will allow the oil pump to get oil to the lifters. This process will make sure all parts of the motor are coated with oil before it's started and hit with a lot of RPM's. Oh, and another trick, when you change the oil filter, fill it with new oil as full as possible before attaching to the motor. This will get oil moving thru the passages a lot quicker.
Good luck, and you'll love it when that motor roars back to life.