Well well well... I just got done restarting Emma, a 1972 B who had been
stored for the best part of a decade in a heated garage in Sunnyvale, Ca...
The carbs were filled with a jell, and the needles and floats and such were
coated with a hard brown film. That film came out with acetone...
The gaskets died when opening the float chambers, so order new gaskets.
The oil in the plungers of the SU's was THICK and clumpy. Replace it, and
clean it.
I drained the gas tank, rinsed it, rinsed it, sloshed it, filled it,
sloshed it, drained it, etc... until it rinsed clean. Yeah, great... when
I finally got it running it took about 5 miles before sheets of the brown
stuff started coming off, and plugging up the fuel line. Take off the
tank, and go get it cleaned! I finally did, after a lot of bother.
New points on the fuel pump.
Batteries? They looked like a fault map of California... cracked and dry.
I replaced the two 6 volters with a 12V. Moss catalog had the proper type
(group 26?) listed under "battery compartment liners".
I went to the bother of pressure injecting oil through the
oil-pressure-gauge line. As my mechanic said... it's ain't gonna pump oil
until that engine is moving fairly fast, and it's had 10 years to DRY out.
I changed the oil and the filter, drove it 50 miles, and did it again.
Ditto the coolants.
The timing seemed funny... the little rubber adapter from the inlet
manifold had cracked, reducing the effectieness of the vaccuum advance.
I checked the valve clearances.... they were okay.
Some electrical things didn't work before a loving tap with a mallet, for
example, the turn signal interrupter.
I relubed all the 3000, 6000, 12000 and 24000 mile parts. That meant a
while wiggling around with a grease gun. But, better safe than sorry.
My suspenstion had sagged... I put in new rear springs (not a bad job, two
half days working slowly), and I may put in new front springs. The car
had been stored by BIL, who put in a new Stainless Exhaust system... which
is sagging even further. I have something like 2" clearance..
Check those tires for cracks, etc...
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I used to say the only constants in my life were stress, my loving wife,
and the weekly hairball the cat leaves on the carpet. After some medical
problems I am trying to reduce the stress... Other than that little has
changed - my wife still loves me, and the cat still vomits up an offering
every week. A man needs some tradition in his life!
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