What to do before first start in 15 years? 74 412 wagon 1.8 LJet

[ubercrap]

Ok, as you regulars know, I've been working on my 412s seriously again for the first time in many years, including my '74 1.8 L Jet /auto wagon. I have not run it for 15 years, but it has been stored indoors 99.99% of the time, not always under the best conditions, but with a roof and walls around it. So far, I have replaced all the fuel lines in the engine compartment and under the car, fuel injector seals, as well as the tin to body foam seal. The gas tank is in the process of final cleaning up and will be installed soon. I replaced the thermostat cable since I noticed it was broken and air filter since I was in there. What else is a good idea? Should I pretty much go for a tune-up, like oil change (with well researched oil choice, of course) cap and rotor, plug wires, points and condensor ( or replace with Pertronix?), adjust valves, new vacuum hoses, etc... before attempting to start it? Anything I should do, like to check for rust in the cylinders? Luckily, the brake master cylinder doesn't seem totally wasted like you might expect, but of course, I'll replace all the soft lines and inspect everything flush/bleed minimum before I drive. Also, I know the auto transaxle will need resealing after this long, I believe it was last done around '04 or '05. I may have a trans shop do this as I don't have a great place to do this myself. I do know all about the front suspension and steering stuff and will be addressing it in my own way, but it does involve the bronze idler arm bushing, NOS center link, subframe slotted for extra caster angle, NOS ball joints, and urethane control arm bushings ( all done or I have). I may try to run BMW E30 4cyl. springs with the new production Type 4 Bilstein front strut inserts and Super Beetle race style camber plates for top mounts. I honestly won't be doing very many miles in this thing, probably just short cruises or shows and running around the neighborhood on errands. On another subject, what about batteries? It seems like if any car was a candidate for a sealed battery of some sort, it would be these. The only group 42 I can find is Odyssey at around $250. Any thoughts?
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'74 412 wagon
(2) '74 412 2dr. sedan
'73 412 2dr. sedan

[raygreenwood]

Ok.....without running or turning over in a long time.....do expect that if the crank seals on either end live.....they may not last long. Same for pushrod seals.

The seals need the heat/cold expansion and contraction thing while they are progessing through their lifetime.....timewise. they will harden up either way just with age. But without the expansion/contraction cycle....they do not stay in the middle of their size tolerance.....they stay at the bottom as they harden up....so they do not expand well to seal. Just keep that in mind.

But the two things to worry about....three really.....but two main things......are varnish from fuel....both in the fuel system and in the valve guides and in the fuel pressure regulator.

So do whatever you can to clean out the fuel lines, tank, pump and injectors. If you really wanted to be aggressive......get a couple of bottles of Techron. Since you are going to be replacing all of the soft lines (right?)......take a couple pieces of hoses and clamp it to each end of the hard lines in the body. Form a loop somewhere near one end. With a squeeze bottle full of Techron ......fill the line from one end until fluid comes out the other and then clamp both ends and let it soak for a few hours and then drain it into a jar....and flush with a wicked solvent of your choice (I like MEK).

Put some Techron into each injector and soak. Do the same for fuel pressure regulator and cold start valve.

If you have a bore scope....look through the plug holes for cylinder wall rust. If not.....just spray some oil in each bore.
Before you turn it by hand.....

The valve varnish......

Squirt some Techron on each valve stem making sure you get it on the guide. Then turn it over about a dozen times by hand....making note if each valve is moving and no pushrods are falling out of the socket.

Then drain the oil.

One of the problems with really old oil is that it gets acidic. Its also part of what is hard on the seals.

If you wanted to be even more careful and you have the time....take each cylinder to TDC....pull the rockers.....pull each pushrod one at a time and squirt solvent and then oil through it. Make sure the hole at each end is open and its not clogged.

I would start up with cheap dino oil....low weight like 20 weight.....maybe add a little top cylinder lubricant like marvel....to run it in....warm it up. Then drain and fill with good oil.

That third problem.......does it still have the cylinder head to cylinder sealing rings?

If so....those are a burn through waiting to happen. It would be a fabulous....and well warranted.... excuse to pull the engine, pull the tin.....clean up everything good.....pull the heads....inspect the bores.....maybe put some solvent around the rings to make sure they are free. Then lightly oil the bores. Put on new pushrod tube rings and intake gaskets, new oul chimney gasket.......measure the head gasket thickness and then find shims of that thickness to put under the rockers so geometry does not change from removing the head gasket......assemble and start it up.

However......if you are going that far......just pull each jug and clean and inspect the rings for sticking and clocking......and you can put in new cylinder base gasket seals....and make it REALLY leak free....and change that oil pump o-ring and the oil filter stand o-ring....and oil cooler seals.

Might as well use that gasket kit if you open it....right? And....might as well replace the main seals......and since the engine WILL be out.....you can be having the transmission resealed while you work!

It sounds like a lot of work.....but all of that is what I would do. If it was a good running engine 15 years ago.....why accidentally waste any nice stock parts if you can help it. Ray

[ubercrap]

Thanks Ray, I was afraid of that! Well, I guess that'll be a reason to get that fancier engine stand setup I was eyeing, I'd be using it for both current project cars...Maybe, though, I'll just give it a try and see what happens. I may assess, then maybe have somebody have a look if it's something major, otherwise I may never get it back together, unless I have some major help from a whole crew of people. The fuel system was drained back then, so should help out some. Honestly I was thinking of replacing the injectors, as they did not look very confidence inspiring when pulled for the seals. I did already start running all the fuel hoses- last step there is to clean out the metal lines, then reconnect the fuel pump, tank, etc.... I don't know if the engine has ever actually been out of the car, it doesn't look like it? It's moderately oily and dirty underneath. Everything looks very un-messed with. It ran strong back in the day- I was having some running problems due to something other than that he mechanical condition of the engine, I believe. Something to suggest the motor has never been out is when I got the car, the fuel lines between the injectors and rails were failing and they had factory looking crimp style clamps on both connections, leading me to wonder if they were original(!), since every other connection was a mishmash of various worm drive clamps. That would have made them about 30 years old when I replaced them! I think the car has a bit over 100k mi on it, from the records in the manual that came with it, though the odometer says something like 90k, so hard to know which is original. Maybe it's rolled over that far and closer to 200k, hard to believe that because the car is decently preserved in a lot of ways for its age. With higher miles, I assume the heads would have been off and with work done at some point at the very least.
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'74 412 wagon
(2) '74 412 2dr. sedan
'73 412 2dr. sedan