Club 80-90 Forums

Have just bought a project that had been sat in a field for the last 2 years unused.
It has a 1.9dg engine that looks ok has done 80k. when i connect up the battery there is power and engine tries to turn over but wont get going. I think the fuel has probably gone stale or all evaporated. I have bought all the necessary bits to give it a good service, oil, plugs, dizzy, rotor, filters etc. Was planning on disconnecting the fuel line from the tank and sucking out any remaining stale petrol, refilling it, changing all the bits mentioned and then seeing where im at. Just wondered if anyone would go about things differently?/
Also handbrake is seized but is off so the handle wont lift to apply the brakes, at the mo she's left in gear and propped with bricks behind the wheels but obviously cant really get her started whilst still in gear and dont want it rolling off down the drive! so need to get that sorted first ideally.
Any advice most welcome
iowcamper

What you suggest is great (15/40 mineral oil)
turn the engine over by hand a few times with the plugs out
A nice new battery and clean up as many earths and connections as you can shake a stick at
Change the coolant and brake fluid
remove the rear drum and service the brake area. change the shoes and test the wheel cylinder it may be seized
same with the front callipers, ensure they are fully operational.

good luck

Hello,

We recovered a T25 that had been sat outside for about 4 years.

You will have to change all the brakes anyway, so here is what I did:

Release handbrake. Penetrating oil on the rear wheel nuts. Slacken nuts. Jack up one side, and support well. Remove wheel. Remove the two small bolts sticking out of the drum. With a large soft headed hammer go over the whole drum, round and round ,lots of rust will fall out.. Put 2 wheel nuts back on and use a crow bar to try and turn the drum, if ok then well done

If not moving, then more penetrating oil into the bolt holes on the drum, and between the drum and the back-plate. Keep spraying, hammering, and crow-baring (?) until it finally comes free.

If the front discs are seized, you will have to try to retract the pads. If they are totally stuck I used a wood-splitting wedge between the disc and the pad.

It will roll, but you will have to redo the brakes, cables and flexibles before any thing will work safely.

The van we did this to was rolled about in the workshop without difficulty, but once the engine was started, the servo pumped up the brakes, so we had to use loads of revs and rocking to get it out. We will be tackling the brakes soon, and maybe do a video.

We started it on a jerrycan of fuel direct to the pump. No problems.

It has hydraulic tappets, that are gummed solid, so it sounds more clattery than the neighbour's 2 cylinder diesel tractor


Work safely,

Have fun

Cordialement,

thanks guys

probably didnt explain properly the handbrake is seized off i.e the van rolls about no probs and the footbrake works but cannot put the handbrake on so have had to leave it in gear so it doesnt roll off the drive! am going to overhaul all the brakes etc anyway but would be nice if i could apply the handbrake so that i can take it out of gear when i try to get her started.
Sold a lovely van 4 months ago and regreted it ever since so saw this going cheap and thought id have a go at a full resto! im at the stage at the moment where everytime i go out and look at it i find something else wrong and wonder what on earth ive done, but on the plus side body work is very straight and given its sat uncovered with no windows for 2 years there is very little rust just a cople of seam and the upper front panel to replace, got a good pop top on it.

Hello,

The handbrake cables are probably seized in their guide tubes.

You could try squirting penetrating oil into the tube in front of the splitter and into the flexibles.

You will end up having to get the drums off and change the cables.

Use chocks to stop it rolling away

Cordialement,

I would definitely drain off most of the petrol, if there seems to be a lot of it in the tank. Modern petrol starts to go off in about only 2 weeks.
Make sure you drain the stale fuel from any fuel filter and pipes leading to the carb.
Fill the filter with new petrol if there isn't much juice in your battery.
Fill the tank with a gallon of new petrol.
Good luck with your brakes.