New to the car need some help

[4door88]

Ok so I just bought the 1968 Delta 88. Its got the rocket 350 under the hood. Where can I buy parts to do all maintenance. I was going to do all new fluids, plug wires, sparkplugs and ? I dont know much about these motors so is there anything you could suggest I do. Thanks a million.

I dont know if this helps but it's got 93XXX original miles

[4door88]

Oh and the guy I bought it from said that every now and then you need to spray starting fluid in the carb to get it to start. Is there something I can do so I dont have to do that? I just want the motor to last for awhile so my wife doesn't say I told you so. haha

[Olds64]

You should be able to buy plugs, wires, cap, and rotor at your local auto parts store. Then do a basic tune up by setting your point gap, dwell, timing, idle mixture screws, idle, and choke settings (I think I remembered everything).

[amh555]

Olds64 got it right on, especially the choke settings. Not usually part of a basic tune-up but I would get a new fuel filter too, do they have a PCV valve? (my '68 goat does), those little cheap things can cause big problems. The engine should not need starting fluid after a good tune-up, that stuff is used because of other problems, ever see them seat tires on rims with it? I would suggest a service manual for all this stuff if you don't have one, Chilton's is okay for basics (our library has them, greasy pages and all), the factory Olds service manual covers everything. The wife thing can be a real motivator, I hate when they say I told you so. My wife likes the "I won't tell you I told you so" thing, double whammy.

Allan

[4door88]

Thanks. So i was thinking of just going to summit and buying everything in one sitting. good idea or no?

[amh555]

Sounds good to me, they should have everything. I love going there and drooling over all the stuff. Check out the points conversion kits they have if you don't want to mess with tach/dwell settings and changing the points, I put them in all my cars.

Allan

[Olds64]

I would suggest going to your local auto parts store. They should be able to get all of the basic parts you need for a tune up. I like Summit, but why order parts on-line and wait a week for them to come in when you can go down to the corner store and buy them for the same price immediately.

Also, I used a variable reluctor conversion on my ignition. It is the Pertronix flamethrower kit. It works well. I would suggest it to anyone. It would probably be a bit cheaper than converting the entire distributor over to HEI.