Recommissioning an LC100 after about 3 years+ of sitting (1 Viewer)

[HiFiGuy]

Guys and gals,
My brake booster failed in maybe 2018 at about 337k miles, I parked Elsie, and life kind of got in the way, in addition to the fact that I had 11 cars at the time, and almost all of them needed attention at some point. I am about to get her back on the road, but I am wanting some input into what I should do to make the process safer for her. I figured I might need to drain the fuel tank? I have no idea how to do that properly, so I was hoping you all could offer a good technique. Obviously a new battery is in order. What should I do to make the start as easy as possible on the internals? I thought about a precautionary spritz of oil or something like WD40 in the cylinders, but don't want to hydrolock. Any and all solid advice is most welcome.

 

[Formerjeeper]

I'm not qualified to weigh in on this but if you're not getting enough responses here, maybe reach out to a classic/collector car forum or expert? Likely something common in that community.

 

[AlpineAccess]

If you haven't run it in three years, it is probably a good idea to pull the fuel. But no need to get too detailed, just syphon when you can using a mighty vac or something similar and then fill it with a few cans of fresh fuel. Cycle some fuel through and then you may want to replace the fuel filter just due to age after a tank or two of driving.

Check the air filter box to make sure there isn't a nest in it, check over the engine for other nests from critters (with extra attention to under the intake manifold - block valley). Look for any chewed wiring, particularly around main harnesses, fuel injectors and O2 sensors. Turn ignition to on but not start, let fuel pump prime and go check under the hood for any kind of fuel smell.

Do an oil change and then just start it up. No need for fogging oil or anything like that.

Over time it would be good to start looking at other fluids such as coolant, brake fluid, and transmission fluid quality, but wouldn't be on my list for until after I'd driven it quite a bit to get things circulating and see what else might be needing attention. My sense is mice combined with electrical is going to be the bigger issue (if you have mice).

I would (after getting it started) check to make spark plugs are properly tightened and then you can do the normal stuff like make sure heater T's aren't falling apart and cooling hoses are in good condition.

 

[Slickspawn]

I always like to drop some oil in the combustion chamber and let it sit for a bit before rotating the engine just in case the piston rings are stuck. And especially priming the oil pump makes me feel better always before spark enters the equation.

 

[HiFiGuy]

So, good news! It had maybe 1/3 of a tank, and I couldn't get the old fuel out, but it turned over very easily with a brand new battery, so I decided to send it. The ol' gal started up and ran really well, actually. Smooth as a baby's bottom after holding throttle at 2000 RPM for maybe 30 seconds to let it settle in. Even idled cleanly. I am going to get enough fresh super unleaded to top it up, and then I need to get to work on the brake booster. That's a whole other can of worms. I'll start a separate thread so the title is on point.