Ok, so my girlfriends grandma parked her 1971 2 door maverick with a v8 302 about 10 years ago and hasnt started it since, it was running fine when parked the only problem being that the brakes would randomly go out (pedal to floor with no braking power) but none of the mechanics found out why, anyways shes giving it to my gf and i have some spare time so i figured i'd help get it going again, its been sitting with a full tank of gas according to her grandma, and she also says it has to have leaded gas, so my question has a couple parts, what would you recommend doing before starting it, and does it actually have to have leaded fuel? I know its probably going to be a bitch to start after sitting so long so i was thinking maybe i would put a bit of unleaded/high octane gas in it until its been running awhile, then fill it with unleaded and put an additive in it? maybe someone could give me an estimate on how much would it cost to make it safe to run on unleaded fuel? Thanks alot !
Drain all the fluids, oil- radiator - gas tank and flush each. Don't even attempt to start with any old gas in it, gas turns to varnish ! Expect leaking from most of the rubber hoses. You may also want to drain transmission too. Put all new filters and lines on. I've had a few "leaded" gas cars and they ran fine with unleaded. I think the differences are in the valves but not positive. There are far more knowledgable people on this board than me, I'm sure you'll get all the info you need.
I have started many cars that sat longer than that with the gas that was in there. Chances are that it will burn. It may stink, but it will usually burn. I would change the oil and do a tune up first. If your real mechanical, you can pull the distributor and get one of those tools to prime the oil system before you actually turn the motor over. If not, you take your chances. I never bothered, but then, I usually didnt care about the motor because I either didnt want it or I was going to rebuild it anyway. Unless the motor is locked up, you should be able to get it running with a little effort. Once you get it running, then you can determine whether it will be OK to keep using it as is or if it will require rebuilding. I wouldnt dump a whole bunch of money in changing stuff untill you find out the motor condition first. Unleaded fuel will not hurt the engine unless you plan on driving highway speeds on a daily basis. For around down, it wont be a factor.
It also depends on where you're located and where it was stored. The longest I ever let one sit was a year outside and it fired right up, but all the rubber fuel lines leaked. Gas has a ton of additives in it to keep it from breaking down. If you're located in the great rust belt of the midwest, I'd be worried about the cylinders being rusted. Just to be on the super safe side, you can pull out all the plugs and pour a couple table spoons of oil in each hole, let it sit for a while and roll it over by hand. If it turns and you don't hear a bunch of grinding and other nasty sounds, I would say fire that pig up. Well, after changing the oil anyway. It'll smoke and carry on, and chances are every gasket in the carb is going to leak, so be on stand by with a fire extinguisher.
to the board, after doing all the above.... fuel lines are going to leak. don't forget the one at the gas tank...do a check under the hood for any bare wires. mice like to chew the insulation off all wires.. use a good hot batt. pull the plugs and spin it over a few times...let set a min. and do again. do this 2 or three times, then fire it up. once it fires let it run about 20 secs. let set a few mins. and fire it up again. to me doing this lets the oil seep into all the places it hasn't been in 10 years....all this is for a motor you are trying to save and not rebuild...JMO...frank...
your main difference would be that if you rebuild the engine then you need hardened valve guides, the leaded fuel kept these lubricated and unleaded fuel won't. a possible timing adjustment also.
Mine sat for 8 yrs., when I "drug" it out of the corner of the barn(brakes were froze up) I put a good battery on it,turned it over about 4 times and fired it up,with the 8yr. old gas in it. It ran just like it did the day I parked it. Had one fuel line leaking at the clamp. The unleaded gas will not be a problem, the led lubricated the valve guides and the valve seats are different, I have put over 100k on mine with the unleaded gas a no problems.
Drop the tank and get that nasty gas out of there, I learned the hard way about trying to suck gas this old through the motor. My '74 Grabber sat from 1993-2005. I got it running on a temporary tank and made sure all was well. Then figgured I would hook the tank full of 12 year old gas up and just let it run it all out. Ended up sticking 3 valves, and bending the push rods. Had to pull the head and rebuild it. When I got the 3 stuck valves out, they were sticky to the touch and smelled of varnish. I soaked all the valves in laqure thinner, cleaned them up with some scotch brite, relapped all the valves and reassembled the head with new valve seals. It now has 13,900 miles since then running on 87 octane unleaded with no problems. I wouldn't worry to much about the rest of the fluids other then the oil until you verify that the engine is worth running as is. Before even trying to turn the engine, pull all the spark plugs and dump a little light weight oil in the cylinders. Turn the engine a few times with a breaker bar. Then put the plugs back in and fire that mother up.
It's not the valve guides but the valve seats, exhaust side. The valve will start to bury itself into the head. Not really a problem with a street car unless you run it hard and often. You can throw in a pint size can of "Top End Lube" with each fill up if you are worried about it. Along with what everyone else has said. On engines that have sat along time, I pull the valve covers and turn the engine over by hand (spark plugs out) and "feel" how smooth the rotating assembly is and watch each valve for proper operation. Sometimes a valve will be stuck from moisture that made its way down the intake or back up through the exhaust pipes while sitting. You can usually loosen a stuck valve back up with some light tapping with a rubber mallet and lots of lubrication. While those valve covers are off, run some oil down the pushrods too so you know the cam is covered good before turning it over. Follow what the others have said too. .
thanks for all the replies!! Its in northern california and has been parked under a covered garage (covered but not enclosed) and covered with a body cover since (95-96) I know the fuel lines were replaced right before it was parked (dont know if that matters), and the only visible damage to it are the areas where the covers been rubbing against it for the last 10 years which made a few thin scratch looking marks around the wheel wells with a tiny bit of surface rust in the scratched part, as far as the engine goes i looked it over and didnt see any loose/broken wires and stuff of that sort, just a bunch of cobwebs, its got 62,000 miles on it and the lady that owned it always took care of it so i cant imagine the engine being too bad off, as far as cleaning out the fuel tank, do i have to drop the whole thing? or is there some product i could put in it and flush it out etc?
Easiest/quickest way I can think of to get MOST of the old gas out without dropping the tank is get the longest screw driver you can find and tap the ring off that holds the fuel sending unit on. Gas will come dumping out when the sending unit comes loose, so keep your distance. This would be a good time to inspect the sending unit and inside of the tank to see if they need cleaned or replaced. Some old gas will stay in there doing it this way, but when you fill it back up with fresh gas it will dilute the old gas for the most part.
Just Pull The Sending Unit From The Tank That Will Be An Indicator If You Have To Pull The Tank ,if So Pulling The Tank Is Easy ,i Took Mine To Napa And Had It Hottanked For 20.00 Then Used A Log Chain And Purplepower And Kept Shaking It And It Looked Clean When Done But I Would First Get A Gal Of Gas And A Longer Fuel Line And Disconnet The Line From The Tank To The Pump And Put The New Line Into A Gas Can Under The Car And Eliminate Fuel Problems When Starting Just My 2
