My father bought this S-10 Blazer new in 1985 and drove it for the next 10 years, putting 181k miles on it. When he got a new car, he sold it to my older brother who kept it as a second car, only putting 28k on it over the next 19 years. The last time I was in the car with him, he told me he'd spent over $3,000 having the transmission completely rebuilt by the best shop in town, confessing he probably shouldn't have spent that much on it. He died unexpectedly in 2014, leaving a lot of unresolved issues we had to work out, so I just pushed this car into the garage and left it there. Complicating matters was the fact that it was partially disassembled with no headlights on it. Now, I've finally gotten to a place where I have the time to try to get it running again. Over the last few months, I've been gradually getting it ready to try starting it, including things like draining the gas tank and getting the major electrical systems working. Piecing together the records, I found that it's only been driven 75 miles since it was inspected in May, 2011.

About a month ago, I took out the spark plugs and shot fogging oil into all the cylinders then replaced the plugs to let the oil work. This last week, I removed the plugs and tried turning the engine gently by hand, feeling for any problems. To my dismay, though the engine turned easily, I ran into an obstruction. Guessing it might be a valve stuck open, I was getting ready to pull the valve covers, but then I thought I might try spraying oil under there, using the oil fill and breather holes in the covers. Fortunately, that freed up whatever was stuck. The engine now turns over very easily by hand with a 3/8" ratchet on the crankshaft nut. I'm going to make sure the valve doesn't stick again, but if it looks like it's turning freely, I will be attempting to crank it.

I think my brother would approve.

 

I think your brother would be proud. Let us know how it goes, and don't hesitate to ask questions. Good luck!