curly type 26 wrote:Dont waste your time just strip it and rebuild will be a lot cheaper in the long run
I tend to agree. An engine stored incorrectly can be damaged extremely quickly, 20 years is way too long to expect *anything* at all to function correctly at startup (or not to fail shortly afterwards) The potential for a serious failure costing many hundreds of quid to rectify for the sake of 50 quids worth of gaskets/sealant and a weekend's worth of work to get the engine out and strip it makes it a no brainer for me! The rebuild after a quick start to "see if it works" could take months.
It's no good saying just drop the sump either, as unless it's a +2 (or you have a spyder chassis/modified the crossmember) - by the time the sump is off then you could have got the whole engine out and be 50% through the stripdown.
Just a few failure areas:
shell bearings eaten by oil acids
stuck piston rings
stuck valves
no oil on cam to follower interface
stuck oil pressure relief valve
stuck clutch
tired oil seals
rust on valve springs
oil seals stuck to crank
rust in oil seal areas
fuel pump non return valve stuck
waterpump grease turned to clay
waterpump carbon seal stuck
carbs silted up
fuel pipes ready to burst