20 years in storage. What would you do?

************************************************************ I AM NOT TRYING TO SELL THIS, ONLY TO HEAR OPINIONS ON BUYING AND REBUILDING THE ENGINE AND TRANSAXLE!

My Dad is the owner of the entire kit including the running gear and it is located at his place in Northern California

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somewhere around 1982 my Dad decided that he wanted to build a kit car. Within a year he had the kit, (1955 porsche california speedster, very cool!) a shortend pan, engine, transaxle, and pretty much everything he needed except the time to put it together. One thing after another and, fast forward to today, he still has the whole deal pretty much still in the origional crates.

**Here's the question** The transaxle and engine are (were) brand new rebuilds but have been sitting in their packing crates for over 20 years, what are the pro's and con's of investing time, money and effort into them?

The trans is a "freeway flier". The engine is a 1600 rebuilt to a 2 liter (turn key). He doesn't remember the exact specs on the engine, only that it has duel delardo carbs and was built to be a "hot daily driver" as per his request. He's going to check the crate to see if there is a spec sheet but for now that's all I have to go on.

I figure that if it can corrode or rust it probably has so they'll have to be torn down, cleaned and re assembled but probably won't need a total rebuilt.

At this point he and I are at the "make me an offer" point...

So, what would you do?

**************************************************************************** ****************** As a follow up: I'm going to be at my Dad's place in a few weeks to look at everything first hand. I'll take pictures and try to get as much information as possible to pass on to anyone interested. If I decide not to tackle the drive train myself, Dad will be offering the whole deal for sale.

Tearing it down will also give you a chance to determine what actually went into this engine; bore, stroke, cam, etc.

Max

replace the brake hoses. Replace the fuel hoses. Change the engine and transmission oil, remove spark plugs, and squirt oil into plug holes. Change battery. Remove fuel tank and clean it. Put it back together, and crank it with the plugs NOT installed. When you get oil pressure, run it. Change oil again in 100 miles.

And watch out, it needs new tires

John Aircooled.Net Inc.

I wish to emphasize John's last recommendation (the rest are, of course, right on). Tires have a pretty darned short lifetime, especially when they've been grounded for a long time. It would be a shame to get everything else right and crash when a sidewall decides to become road debris. You cannot neccessarily _see_ the weaknesses.

I pulled a motor out of storage after 18 years and tore it down. It was fine inside. No rust or corrosion was found. It was stored full of oil. It seemed to develope some oil seeping in a few places but otherwise was fine.

The carbs and fuel pump may need some work due to old dried out gaskets,

I think with a little work it should run fine.

Theo