First start after 20 years

[912newbie]

So I am soon to "inherit" a '66 912 from a friend's father. I dont know too much about the car except that it's free so I didnt ask too many questions. As far as I know, the car has been on blocks for the last 15-20 years inside a mostly-covered garage. The owner states that the car ran well before he put it on blocks, but was placed in storage becasue he knew he wouldnt be driving it. Anyway, the question is, I plan on towing the car to my garage and starting by draining the fluids and replacing the battery and plugs just to see what the engine can do, but since the car has been sitting so long do I have to worry about doing some serious damage if I run the engine for too long? Should I assume that all the gaskets, hoses, belts, etc are shot? Are there any other things you all would recommend doing before attempting to start this hibernating beast? Any and all advice would be much appreciated, this is my first "vintage" car and I would rather not damage it if at all possible. Thanks so much.

[carrera turbo]

lucky you on the new car

well i would start buy replacing the fuel lines near the engine at bare minimum. i would remove the carbs and clean them out and reseal as you wouldn't want to fill your new to you motor up with fuel and ruin anything.

pull the plugs and put some marvels or like in the cylinders. now see if you can turn engine over by hand if not you cant either tear down or after letting sit a bit with oil in cylinders i put the car in gear and gently rock it back and forth to break free. after this lube some more.

change oil check tranny fluid, you can remove coil wire and crank engine to get oil pressure, remove a valve cover and wait till you get oil to rockers, this will also let you know how much moister has gotten to motor , I.E. surface rust etc.

after oil pressure check for spark at the plugs install plugs and carbs of course and see what she does.

good luck and nothing i said here is Gospel and I'm sure I'm leaving out something but this should get you started in the right direction.

cheers ed

[WFBowen]

Just to expand a little on Ed's points:
Assume that the entire fuel system (tank to carbs) is contaminated. If you just want to see how the motor runs, you can use a remote gas tank with clean fuel, but, as Ed stated, you'll at least need to clean out the carbs/lines/fuel pump.

As for the cylinders, be very cautious as the some of the rings are probably stuck. IMO lots of folks wake-up a "sleeping beauty" the wrong way. Take your time and put lots of Marvel MO &/or penetrating solvent into the cylinders before moving the crankshaft. Spray in using the red extender and, if possible, shoot some high pressure air in there, then shoot more solvent. I'm talking about a 1/2can per cylinder or more and maybe 3-4 days of penetrating time.
Finally, change and prime the oil filter and drain the sump. Throw in some light 5-20 conventional oil and start to hand turn the motor. You can use cheap oil, as you'll be changing it after a short time.
I've also seen some guys severely over-fill the sump (double the allowed capacity) and let it set a few days, then begin hand turning the motor to hopefully get a little oil on the bearings, etc., then draining the excess out before firing the motor. Also, you can pull both valve covers and squirt penetrating oil all over the rockers. The idea here is to try to get a little oil on the moving parts before the motor is even slightly turned.
Good luck,
Bill.

[atlporsche]

I just got a '57 healey fired up after 40 years. The above posts speak the truth.

the 5 gallons of jelly and rust that came out of the gas tank.....yecccch.

sjd

[Jerome Ryals]

All good points above, but in your excitement after you first get her fired up MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BRAKES before you test drive. I learned the hard way many years ago.

[lep]

Great points listed above. The biggest problem will be the fuel system, and lack of oil between the pistons and the cylinder walls.

Indeed, pull the plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders, and remove the air filters from the carbs. There have been some amazing stories about starting engines that have sat for a decade or two, so it's your call on how extreme and risk averse you want to be for startup.

As a minimum, you can always install a new battery, change the oil and filter, pull the spark plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders-- then replace with new spark plugs, squirt some Gumout carb cleaner inside and outside the carbs, pour a little primer gasoline down the throats of the carbs and see what happens when you try to crank it over. If it doesn't crank, you may have a larger problem, but I would doubt that the engine has seized just from sitting -- it's possible though and there may nevertheless be rust inside the cylinders. But if that's the case, then you have much more extreme issues to worry about -- like rebuilding your engine.

As hearty as engines are, especially a Porsche engine, you may be amazed and get the thing started. Also, I would think that slightly higher engine RPMs after startup (~1500-1750) would be better than idle for the first 5-10 minutes of run time. The oil pressure is considerably greater at these RPMs than at idle, and you will need more oil thrust on your cam/lifters than normal startup.

I think the fuel system will be a mess, but I would worry more about internal oil issues, since oil is the *life* (friction reducer and coolant) of an air-cooled Porsche engine. Bad fuel and deposits in your tank, lines, and carbs can be fixed, but mistakes with the oil system involve parts like your crankshaft, main bearings, cam, lifters, push rods, cylinder walls -- which require major surgery to deal with.

[terry@bigbadtoy]

I second the thoughts on the brakes, New brake lines a must and a possible caliper rebuild, It is not hard if you follow the direction posted here and on the 912 registry bbs. Have fun. I have a 65 that sat for about 15 years in my barn and is now winning awards at auto and Porsche shows for "originality" In my opinion keep at original as possible, especially paint. If it is original and not in terrible shape, buff it out - original is only once. But also remember, do what you want and what you like to see, - no need to go overboard --above all have fun!!!

Good luck