Starting it after a five-year, expenses paid “vacation”

Question:

I have a 1982 Corvette with a BDS blown 454 cid engine that makes 850 horsepower. Unfortunately, the IRS felt I should take a five-year vacation, even offering me free room and board.

My concern is how I prepared my vehicle for the long vacation. I put the vehicle on jack stands, put fuel stabilizer in the fuel tank and filled it with gas, pulled the spark plugs and squirted a good bit of long-term-storage boat oil in the cylinders.

Of course when I return I’ll have to change the oil, pull the plugs and cycle out the excess oil in the cylinders and rebuild the Holley 850 double pumpers.

What kind of problems do you anticipate that I may experience? Will the gas still be good? Will the motor now leak oil?

Answer:

You don’t say anything about the environment the car has been stored in and that can make a profound difference in its condition and what you’ll need to do to get it safely on the road again.

I suspect that the gas in your Corvette will still be usable but if I were you I’d drain it out and use it in a more mundane car—one that’s not powered by a blown big block yielding 850 horsepower. Before putting it into another car, however, you should make sure it smells and looks OK. If it smells rancid and/or looks cloudy, don’t use it.

You will almost certainly need to install a new battery.

It is likely that your brakes will need some attention. Check the master, each caliper, and the hoses and lines for leaks, and repair as needed. It is a good idea to change the brake fluid by bleeding the old fluid out of each caliper and continuously adding new fluid into the master until you get nothing but clean fluid out of each wheel.

If you feel ambitious, take the ignition distributor out and, using an electric drill and tool intended for the job, spin the oil pump until pressure comes up.

If your car has an automatic transmission, make sure it has sufficient fluid. If it has a standard transmission, make sure that the clutch is free and not stuck to the flywheel.

Flush and refill the cooling system.

After the engine fires up, immediately check around the carburetors for fuel leaks and around and underneath the engine for other fluid leaks.

Before driving, bring air pressure in the tires up to speed. Unless the car was stored with the wheels off the ground, the tires will likely be flat-spotted. The flat spots may work themselves out after the car is driven for a while but if they don’t you’ll have to replace the tires.