starting a 440 that has been sitting a while?

I have a 440 that was rebuild and driven maybe 1500 miles. It had a stock rebuild, valve job, hyd cam, 30 over cast pistons, yada yada. I had it in a car and pulled it to put a 340 in. It has been sitting in the garage for 3-4 years. I never drained the oil or backed off the valve train in this time. I have ocassionally pulled the engine over. What should I plan on doing before I run this again? I am mainly concerned about sludge or rust. Thanks, Jon

Ch oilfilter/preoil w the 5/16" hex/spray WD40 in the cyls & hand turn it over to lube all of the cyl (do b 4 preoiling & the turning over to hit the heads will take car of that)/no opinion on the valve spring situation but I'd probably go as is

thanks, anyone else?

You would be okay firing it as-is, but if you're concerned about it, then lube the cylinders with wd40 and pull the distributor and prime it with a hex shaft while having a helper spin the crank over a few times with a ratchet.

I agree w/ WD 40 in the cylinders & priming it by hand. My 383 mag was sitting for 6-7 yrs on a stand & when we installed in my 71 Power Wagon, I changed the oil twice, put Marvel Mystery oil in the plug holes & a week later we used WD 40 & primed it by hand. Fired right up w/ good oil pressure. Changed the oil again & runs like a new motor.

Just make sure you prime the oil system so it puts oil to the lifters and lifter lobes.

I am going to fire the 440 in my 62 in April or so. It has not run in 5 or so years ....

In additional to the above ...I am going to pull the rockers and check the V-springs .... just them with a rubber hammer.

I had a friend that fired a 440 in a motor home that had sit for awhile. The VS had broke ... and the valve dropped into the cylinder.