Bringing a van back from the dead

[aec]

What with one thing and another my poor van hasn't moved for about 4 years...   I know, I know    

Finally though I now have time to bring it back to life, slowly.  Body is still pretty good, there are a couple of places I knew about that now need a visit from Mr Mig, but generally it's always been a pretty solid van, so no big worries there

I had been turning the engine over from time to time but it's been a while since I have done that, so will remove the plugs and turn it over slowly with a socket spanner, hopefully that will be OK.  I had drained/flushed/refilled with 50/50 coolant not long before laying up, so keeping fingers very crossed that it's retained its anti corrosive properties .

Front brakes are locked up, so I'm taking the opportunity to renew the seals, and check everything over but I'd replaced a lot of hoses and rear cylinders/shoes recently (well, 4 and a bit years ago!) so otherwise brakes still look good.

Question is, what else should I be looking out for on a 1984 1.9 petrol after such a long lay up? 

Any hints/tips on wake-up procedures much appreciated!



 

[Smiffo]

I'm sure there will be some tip-top suggestions from a few others here, but I would take opportunity to change fuel lines from to rear. They perish with time.

When mine was in storage awaiting body work, from memory, they also did the usual fluids - oil, both engine and gearbox, and coolant.

[Mocki]

Evening.
The most important thing you need to address is the rubber petrol pipes , at the very least check they are not perished internally, take them off and twisted them over and back , but really you should be replacing them , and the filter under the sill near the tank ( if there is one in the engine bay get it removed when you replace the rubber pipes, there should only be one filter inline . Also check the tank filler neck rubbers haven’t disappeared or have holes in,

[maxstu]

Deffo fuel pipes and drain out old fuel.
Replace brake fluid and gearbox oil.
Depress the clutch pedal slowing a few times. Then check for fluid leaks under dash and at slave cylinder above engine/transmission. The seals may have dried and shrunk.
Check tyres for peripheral cracking just around the edge of rims.

[aec]

Thanks, yes will be sure to double check all fuel hoses.  I think most are recent but have had issues before when apparently good hoses seem to "dry out" over winter and leak around joints.
Forgot about the clutch hydraulics!  Good tip about draining whatever remains in the fuel tank too.

Wonder if I'll be able to breath any life into the battery, annoyingly that was almost new.  It won't have appreciated being discharged though.
 

[maxstu]

Oh! And a good battery!

[multisi]

Yes get a new battery, dont bother trying to charge that one up, average battery life is about 5 years.

[aec]

Yes get a new battery, dont bother trying to charge that one up, average battery life is about 5 years.

When I looked under the seat there was an empty space and I remembered that I'd already given up on it last time I tried starting the engine... my memory is a lot worse than the average battery life!