starting motor/ car has been sitting?

[rick spears]

i just purchased a 73 L82 coupe that was running fine when the gentleman pulled it into the garage and turned it off 7 years ago!(don't ask, i don't know why)
anyway, my question is this, what should i do before putting a battery in the car and trying to fire her back up? appears to be just a little fuel in the tank (almost dry) is there a good way to flush fuel tank out, without pulling it off of the car? what else should i do to safeguard against any motor damage before cranking it? thanks, rick

[Terry F.]

Re: starting motor/ car has been sitting?

I would treat the engine like a fresh rebuild. Change all the fluids, pull the spark plugs. Prime the oil system. Pull the valve covers and oil the rocker arms. Pour a little oil down into the lifter valley. Once oil primed and with plugs out I would put oil in the cyliders and rotate the engine with the starter or by hand if you can (disconnect power to the coil or distributor/don't go Ka-boom) By hand if you can is best. You want to get oil on the cylinder walls and if any rings are stuck or sticking you don't want to crack them. If you think there is any chance the engine is stuck, I would shoot some Marvals Mistery Oil in the cylinders and let them sit for a week. I say that because there might be a chance of cracking rings. If it was stuck and has cast iron rings, I suspect they might be toast.

If the tank is clean, I would pull the gas out with a small hose and put fresh gas in it. I would probably crank the engine with plugs out and spark disconnected. I would watch for gas to show up at the carb. I would then put everything back together and fire it up. I will probably start. You might check spark at one of the plugs also if it doesn't fire right away.

If it runs good, change the fuel filter and change the oil again in short order with new filter. If it runs cruddy, set the timing and do the general tune-up stuff (new plugs, set timing, etc). If still cruddy, rebuild the carb. I would worry about the fuel pump pooping on you very soon also. Might be all dried out and ready to toss the diaphram.

This is only a few ideas I have. I am not an expert at restarting cars that have been sitting for so long a time. I have thrown gas in a few cars that I did not care about and they just took off. But, If you care about the car, take your time. I stand to be corrected on any of this stuff. There are smarter people than me on this board.

Good luck, Terry