Starting a car after 20+ years, need advice..

[MadeofOak]

Should we just go hog wild, pull engine, gastank, trans, fuel lines?

Or do you think it's worthwhile to retune/oil change/flush tank etc and try to start it? I don't want to damage anything. Advice wanted on starting a sleeping beauty, car has never been messed with.

[cmcfaul]

first post pics

then give it clean gas, oil in each cylinder, turn it over and see what you have. Turns over, develops oil pressure has spark...let er rip.

Chris

[Evans, Marv]

Do you know what condition it was in when whoever stopped using it? Do a search, because there are a bunch of threads about this.

[Mark Salvetti]

What year is it? I think the advice could be different depending on whether you have carbs, MFI, CIS, or Motronic.

Pull the fuel sending unit and look inside the tank. What you find in there will tell you a lot.

Mark

[Trackrash]

^^^ +1

Really old gas, oh my. Probably will need to completely clean out the entire fuel system.

I would replace every piece of rubber in the fuel system and brake system.

As mentioned the year and pics of the motor would be helpful.

[aston@ultrasw.c]

at a minimum:

change oil
pull plugs (no compression, engine spins free)
crank until you get a nice solid oil pressure

fire it up

[jlex]

Definitely fresh gas & pull the sending unit so you can see inside the tank for excessive rust. Turn the crank pulley a full engine rotation to make sure there's no internal obstruction. Pull the lead off the coil so it can't start, then crank it and keep an eye on the oil pressure light (or gauge) to make sure oil has reached everwhere it needs to go before re-connecting the coil & starting. You can deal with changing out fluids & hoses afterwards.
On my '88 that had been sleeping for about 15 years, I didn't dare try to start it w/ old gas & rust in the tank for fear of clogging the injectors. Worked on it for about 4 months before I turned the start key and it gave me an immediate start. Go slow. You have plenty of time.

[Coastr]

On the gas front. Friend of mine has a project that he was going to part out. It had a bad hit in the silll/rear wheel area. Decided to repair instead as everything else was good.

He decided to try startup with CIS because impatience. It did fire up, but then gradually got worse and worse. Reason was fuel system pulled in all the crap fuel left in the tank. Now he has to work on all the CIS bits. Much less work if tank and lines drained and cleaned and refilled with new gas, then start up.

[MadeofOak]

Thanks for all the advice gents, pictures will be up today or tomorrow. It's a 1974, was running, low miler, but 20 years is a looong time to sit so the fuel system will have to be totally cleaned.

Do I have to worry about old oil in the oil cooler/trombone lines? Or a few Oil changes should be good? Have LOTS of time as it's winter here.

[Trackrash]

How are the brakes?

[SalParadise]

Cleaned? More like replaced. My '75 sat for 20 years. The tank was completely shot (threw it out), lines, filters, fuel pump, fuel dizzy, injectors (and seals). You get the picture. Your car has 44-year-old fuel lines, and some '74s have the old style lines (mine had partial old style) that when bent broke like pasta. You have a fireball on your hands unless you go through everything.

[Oneredspyder]

Do all of the above. Then before you actually start it, disconnect the coil, crank it over a few times to get new oil throughout the engine. Reconnect the coil and start it.

[HarryD]

Lots of threads on this topic. Personally, I suggest you read posts 20 and 21 of this thread. Ignore Grady at your own risk.

Winter storage checklist?

[BoxsterGT]

All the above, including "Mystery Oil" down the spark plug holes.

PLUS,

OIL the MOTOR by putting 4-5 quarts in a pressurized paint bucket. Run a line from the bucket to the pressure switch location of the main oil gallery.

Feed 20 psi of regulated air into the bucket AND this will OIL the motor.

This guarantees the motor has oil and will turn without internal damage.

Len

[MadeofOak]

Everything will have to come out and be replaced! This is not my car, just helping a friend. He wants to do it right. For obvious reasons (open intake etc) there is no way the car will be started 'as is'.

Pics as promised 1974 911S. Sitting 27 years!!

[Mark Salvetti]

Originally Posted by MadeofOak

Everything will have to come out and be replaced! This is not my car, just helping a friend. He wants to do it right. For obvious reasons (open intake etc) there is no way the car will be started 'as is'.

Pics as promised 1974 911S. Sitting 27 years!!

Not necessarily. This is the inside of my fuel tank after sitting for 20 years in my garage full of fuel. Non-ethanol, Stabil (not that it did much good after the first year or two), but I think more importantly a dry garage that always stayed between 35-80F.

I drained it, and the fuel still smelled like gasoline. The fuel pump still worked, and the fuel in the lines seemed OK.

That's why you need to pull the sender and take a look. You might be in better shape than you think.



Mark

[MadeofOak]

Tank might be fine, but the CIS is not. It was left open, and there is random debris all over and dead mice. Oil covers the bottom of the engine and it's some thiiicck goey stuff (inside that is).

I wanted to jump in, pull off CIS and get it running but it's not my car. The owner wants to take it apart and recondition it. I should start another thread when work starts.

[Trackrash]

That looks like a real project. I am noticing some rust on the body as well.

On a positive note, 20+ years ago, there probably wasn't alcohol in the gas, so maybe cleaning out everything in the CIS will be enough.

Good luck, I'll look for the threads.