I need to take my olds from Tucson to Dallas, but the car has been run once since about 1994. That was when I put it on a trailer to bring it to Tucson. It took about twelve quarts of transmission fluid to get it to move, and that has since surely all leaked out. I'm concerned about starting it at all after all this time without taking some special steps to get the oil moving and such. This move is too time-compressed for that. It is in a self-storage unit now and there's not enough room to maneuver a wrecker around there to just pull it out and push it onto the trailer. U-Haul doesn't have a winch for that; I haven't tried the others yet. Does anyone have any ideas about getting this underway?
Put two new tires on the rear and buy a $20 hand winch to put your car on a two-wheeled car dolly. Unbolt your driveshaft and tow your car to it's destination.
These special steps are not at all difficult or time consuming. It'd be best and make the least mess if you were to top up the engine oil, pull all eight spark plugs and squirt a couple ounces of oil into each cylinder, then crank the engine (w/spark plugs out) for about 45 seconds. Then just replace the spark plugs, start up the engine, top up the trans fluid, check for functional brakes, and drive the car onto the trailer. Should take you all of about 45 minutes, working slowly and carefully.
If you don't have time for even that, then top up the engine oil and trans fluid, pour a few ounces of oil into the intake through the carb, remove the coil wire, crank the engine for about 20 seconds, replace the coil wire, check for functional brakes, start the engine and drive it onto the trailer.
Thanks for the ideas, guys. (I'm not sure the insult was really necessary though.) I'll think about Dan's suggestions and possibly follow the abbreviated second approach to get it running. I'd definitely prefer driving it on--and off--the trailer. The problem is that I start the operation after the moving van leaves my house (hopefully without my tools), so if I am their last stop in Tucson then I'm racing the moving van to Dallas.
In reading my original post I see that I confused the time line. What really happened was that I put the car into a "restoration" shop near Dallas in July 1993 for paint, top, and upholstery. The shop botched all three phases and added salt to the wound by screwing with my engine. I retrieved it several months later and drove it home, running out of gas before I could get to a filling station; so I added a gallon from a container I bought at the filling station. That is probably the last time gas has been added to it. It then lived in my garage, and later a local self-store unit, until I towed it to Tucson in 1999. At no time was it my intent to store it long-term; I and my car were just overtaken by events, at first a long delay attempting to get my money back from the shop, and later what turned out to be a very long-hour job. And I agree: it is a shame. I doubt if much has been lost though; at 225,000 miles the engine, and probably the transmission, were already easily due for overhaul.
Maybe now, with a new job and back in Texas, I'll be able to get the project restarted.
Gasoline will have turned to varnish long before the 10-year mark. You say there was almost none in the car when it was stored, so that's good -- filling up the tank with fresh new gas will go a long way.
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