77-280 Sitting 20 years-now what?

[stewsjunk]

Hi all. The z bug has hit me so I dove in. After alot of looking at rust buckets I bought a 77 280 with documented 70k miles for 800 bucks. Parked since 1985 in the guys garage and its rust free. No cracks on the dash but some dings and small dents in the body. He changed all the fluids before storage. My question is besides the cleaning out the old fuel is there any other steps I should take before trying to get it going?Can I siphon the fuel from the tank or do you recomend dropping it? I was going to remove the plugs and oil up the cylinders and crank the starter for some oil pressure but wanted to check with the guys in the know. Thanks

[ZSaint]

I hope he kept the tank full! You can take the drain plug out of the gas tank and flush it. It is better to use up $10 of gas in flushing the tank then cranking any setiment into you fuel system. Flush out the rad and engine block, too. New antifreeze, too. I would think the brakes would need to be serviced. You can have the rotors and drums turned .005 to clean them up. Replace the pads and shoes? Be certain to take the valve cover off and lube up the cam before starting it. It will take a while to "smoothe" out but I bet it will run OK. Let us know how it runs.

[Ricklandia]

My admittedly unprofessional opinion:

I agree on pulling the plugs - personally I would squirt in some Marvel Mystery Oil and let it soak overnight before turning over the motor. Even then, I would give it a few turns by hand just to let the oil get in/on/around the rings before going with the starter motor.

After sitting for 20 years, I would change ALL fuids - brake, clutch, coolant, oil, transmission, rear end, and of course gasoline. As to needing to drop the tank, it may not necessarily be needed. A trip to the local autoparts store might find you a fuel system cleaner. As ZSaint suggests, drain the tank first, them with some fresh fuel in the system, combined with the fuel system cleaner, disco the line and let the electric pump run and flush this fuel up through the tank and line and see what you get. If you get mud or sludge, or any sign of rust scaling then dropping the tank is probably a wise idea. Regardless, even if you drop the tank, you are still going to need to flush out those lines anyway because if the old gasoline has varnished up in the tank, it surely will also have in the fuel lines and injectors. I don't know a whole lot about old fuel injectors, it might be worth pulling them and soaking them as well? JMHO

Rick

[zman525]

well i would treat this as i would any other restoration project u get ur hands on. Perform all maintnence procedures on it (fluids, plugs etc.) i have done this with several Z's that have been sitting for many years and had them running in one night. Run a search here on the forums and im sure u'll find ever step on what to do when first starting a Z after many years. Dont get anxious tho, make a list even, like mentioned before u dont want to pump sludge all through ur fuel lines. In my 76 280z i had just flushed the tank, added some gas treatment in one fill up, then some cleaner in another. I changed radiator fluid, engine oil, pulled the plugs changed em, new wires, distributor cap, rotor, and i cleaned off all my fuel injection relays. take ur time do it right and u should be fine

[stewsjunk]

Thanks for the input. You covered alot of things I was not thinking about. One of my concerns was that the long term storage may have damaged the motor but none of you commented on that.

[zman525]

as long as it was sealed its should be alright (as in the intake manifold and exhaust manifold were on)... not much gets in there to affect it. If u feel safer turning it over slowly without the starter, then do so, however i just didnt really care... I believe you should be fine just following the usuall procedures. I had brought this up when i first bought my 72 240z in a thread, if u run a search on that im sure u'll find some more useful information.

[kenz240z]

Not engine related, but before you attempt to drive the car, drain, flush & refill the brake fluid, brake lines, calipers & wheel cylinders. Brake fluid absorbs moisture. I've worked on older vehicles where the wheel cylinders were filled with gunk and were rendered inoperable.

Best bet would be to remove the calipers & wheel cylinders, clean them and rebuild them with new parts. If they are in bad shape, replace them. Same for the master cylinder. And, replace all the rubber hoses in the brake system. After sitting so long, and with the age of the vehicle, they are most likely getting dried out & cracked, only a matter of time before one splits.

I'd also recommend inspecting the suspension. Replace the struts, they are probably shot by now. Make sure all bushings are in good shape, replace any that have deteriorated or are missing. Check the ball joints & tie rod ends, replace as necessary.

The other replies have been good regarding what to do to get the engine running. Follow the recommendations you've been given and you should have the engine running in no time. But remember, you don't want to take any chances driving an unsafe vehicle. If you focus on the engine and get it running it is easy to get a bit excited and want to jump in the car to go for a spin!

But, hold off a bit, go through EVERYTHING on the car first, make it SAFE to drive, and then you'll have a LONG time to enjoy it!

Sounds like you found a great project Z for a great price. Please post some pics when you get a chance and keep us posted with your progress! Welcome to the club!

[Ricklandia]

I'll second Kenny on his comments. When I bought mine last tear, the brake fluid looked like mud, and the rubber hoses from the hard lines to the calipers were dried and cracked. The P.O. hadn't seriously driven the car in a few years, just around the block occasionally to keep it fresh, but frankly that alone was a frightening thought for me. First project on the list before taking it for a spin was to address these issues. It's one thing to have the motor sputter and die on you out on the road, it's an entirely different situation to find the brake pedal go to the floor!