PLEASE HELP: Starting a Bronco That's Sat For 4 Years

[302]

Hey All,

I'm a new member and happy to be here. I would greatly appreciate some advice on how to approach starting my Bronco after it has sat for nearly four years.

Why it hasn't been started in four years is a long story, so I'll cut to the important issue. I have a '77, completely stock, uncut Bronco 302 with 66k original miles on it. The vehicle had always run like a top. I had it serviced regularly and spent many great hours waxing polishing, and cleaning every nook and cranny.

I am in Los Angeles. The Bronco is a California car and has spent every day and night in a closed, dry garage. But now I want to revive it and need some advice. I have been told a number of things. The gas tanks are about 1/2 full of premium. It has been suggested by a local shop that specializes in classic American cars that I do not attempt to start the car, instead have it towed on a flatbed to their shop where they will drop both gas tanks, flush and clean them. they said this was the most important part of the process. They will also do some general service to go along with the tank flushings.

On a completely separate note, a local mechanic who also works on older American vehicles thought that was overkill. He suggests simply replacing the battery, start the car and drive it. He also said I might want to immediately fill the tanks to mix fresh gas with the old and run the car.

Anyway, I'm just uncertain as to what the best approach is and would greatly appreciate some suggestions.

Thanks very much.

 

[jckkys]

Gasoline goes bad within a year. I have gotten by siphoning as much as possible out of the tank-tanks and putting 5gal. of fresh gas in to dilute the stale gas. I use a 1/4" hex drive to turn the oil pump and pre lube the bearings, rockers, etc. A shot of PB Blaster in the spark plug holes will do the same for the rings. No reason to damage that low mileage 302.

 

[Crimson66]

Get out the gas

I would definitely get as much of the old gas out that you can.

 

[Break Down Bry]

I would definitely post a picture of this beautyright away!! (then get as much old gas out as possible)

 

[joshm121]

Might help pulling the gas line off the fuel sending unit (or pulling the unit) and draining as much as you can that way. Idk, I've never siphoned gas before.

Josh

 

[Glass Pony]

4 year old gas is probably ethanol blended gas.
I would get rid of it.

 

[jim3326]

As everyone else says, get rid of the old fuel, if there is even any left.
Pull the sending unit to see if the end of it is rotted off and drain the fuel from there. I would also take the carb apart and clean, I'm sure it's got a good coating of shellac in it.
All of this is based on hoping you can run it without rebuilding, no sense getting it running with all the crap that's in the system. The real problem may be the seals have dried out and cracked, which would require you to do a minor tear down anyway. That will become apparent after you put a couple dozen miles on it and then it relieves itself in the driveway;D
Also, definitely pre-oil the system by turning the oil pump (counter-clockwise), pulling the plugs and lubing the cylinders.

Good luck, welcome aboard and let us know how it goes.

Jim W.

 

[sarens]

I concure with all, old gas with give you a multitude of issues, pre-oiling cylinders and spinning pump is excellent (and cheap) insurance, double check coolant/water pump to be sure no corrosion locked it up or other issues

 

[Broncobowsher]

Get rid of the old fuel. I have personally seen 2 good engines die tragic deaths as a result of trying to burn old varnished gas through them. It will build up and stick valves and things only get ugly after they first start to stick. One engine was rebuildable (AMC 401) the other ended with holes in the block (351W).

My thoughts...
Disconnect the fuel line at the fuel pump, it is probably rotten anyway.
Put a fresh piece of fuel line into a gas can and to the pump. Now you have a fresh fuel supply.
Drop a battery in and start it. Use a can of flammable carb cleaner to give it an initial cleaning and priming. Spray some into the bowl vent and down the venturies. Hit the key an bring it to life. Garage kept LA car it will be fine, something stored outside in Ohio would be a different story (that would need oil soaked down the cylinder walls for a week to break the rust loose). Once it runs you can look for what age related issues it will have. I have no issues with taking engines that have been stored out here in the southwest for many years and just starting them up after many years of sitting so long as they are protected.

As for the tank(s), drain them as much as possible. If it comes out fairly clean and not too sticky, just put fresh gas in and you are good. If it is clean but real nasty smelling, put a couple gallons of fresh gas in, shake the bronco and drain. Just a quicky flush. But if the initial drain looks real bad, chunky, brown, something that looks like it came out of a diaper, drop the tanks and get professional help (maybe even replace). The '77 should be a plastic tank, so you should not have rust issues.

My boat hasn't ran since '08. Next week I hope I can start it. I am not going to do anything other than fresh gas, new battery and rebuilt carbs (I knew the carbs needed a rebuild when it was parked). The motor is already broken in. The oil pump has been submerged in oil all this time and is still primed. It will have oil pressure in a second or two.

 

[TwoDalesDad]

I might turn the engine over by hand...to make sure its..free....Then I would connect the battery and start as normal....

 

[needabronco]

My $0.02 is to suck out as much of the gas tank as you can, put 5 gallons of fresh in, do a simple rebuild of the carb to get the old gummed up varnish out, dump a quart of ATF in the oil, put a fresh battery on it and fire it up! Run it for at least an hour and get it nice and hot so the ATF can help clean up any varnish or sludge out of the bottom end then change the oil and filter. Drive it and enjoy...

 

[nsg4]

When I bought mine, it had sat for 2 years......take all the old gas out, do a rebuild on the carb, maybe do the fuel lines, and i think that will do it....keep some extra fuel filters, I had some sediment in my tank, or the lines, which clogged the filter and kept the gas from entering the carb, so it'll choke out and leave you sit somewhere.....I had to change it about 4 times till it quit happening....

 

[jagdprcp]

Drain as much of the old gas as possible from the tanks. Disconnect the fuel lines on both ends and use an air compressor with low pressure to blow the lines out. Inspect any rubber fuel lines and replace if they look suspect. reconnect all fuel lines. Change the fuel filter and add fresh gas to the tank.

Remove the spark plugs and squirt some PB Blaster in each cylinder. Let it sit over night and try to turn it over by hand first. If it turns easily, prime the oil pump as stated above. Then with a fresh battery try to start it. It will probably smoke a bit on start up but should go away quickly.

Skeeeter

 

[tacobronco]

I would do a sanity check for varnish, etc. before I assumed it was bad and tore everything apart. I think modern fuel doesn't gum up like back in the old days. I had about 5 gallons sitting in my unused aux tank for over 10 years, and when I finally drained it and inspected the tank and lines, it was absolutely pristine - not even a hint of varnish. I'm sure it lost octane and wouldn't have perfomed as well, etc. but definitely no gumming or varnishing that would have clogged things.

 

[Jedhead]

the problem is modern fuel SUCKS most likely after 3 months it is shot drain it all out ,clean or rebuild the carb, also kills fuel pumps good luck i used an electric fuel pump before the stock fuel pump to drain the gas out of mine, goes in clear 3 months later comes out brown eats up needle and seats like crazy

 

[flint_knapper]

Clean tank out, drop some fresh gas in it, a good charged batt. should start up from sitting, mine does. Run awhile check for leaks change fuel filter,
change oil. Then stretch the ol horses legs for a bit.

 

[El Kabong]

In addition to checking out the fuel situation as suggested above, there are a few other things to check. Please excuse the cut & paste, but some of this is from a previous reply. You should expect the compression to be low at first after sitting several years with no oil on the rings. Dry rings alone will drop the compression. It's not a bad idea to squirt a little oil in all 8 before trying to crank it.

My dad is a guy for bringing long sitting vehicles back to life. He had a garage when I was a kid, then taught auto shop for years, & was always trying to revive some old engine. His routine was to change the crankcase oil & filter, squirt a little Marvel Mystery Oil thru the plug holes, rotate the engine without starting it just enough to coat the cylinder walls, add a little more thru the plug holes, & let sit for a bit before firing it up. He'd run the engine easy for little awhile (Maybe 15 minutes to 1/2 hour?), then change the oil & filter again. Of course the 1st fire up would smoke a lot as the oil burned out of the cylinders. Sometimes he'd mix in a little ATF (1/2 quart at the most) with the crankcase oil in the 1st oil change to aid in cleaning if he thought the old oil looked especially bad. He'd drive it easy for few days, & make the call after that as to whether or not it needed more work or just another oil change. It would usually work out pretty good.

And of course, check all rubber parts for signs of cracking or stiffness. Tires, hoses, belts, wiring, & especially anything handling fuel. It's better when stored inside, but just sitting in SoCal can be bad for rubber parts.

Look for signs of animal damage. Chewed wiring, nesting material under the hood, along the exhaust, or even in the intake to the air cleaner. I've actually removed nuts stored by squirrels from inside an air cleaner.

Check the brakes. Low fluid is not unusual after sitting for awhile. If the master cylinder is dry, you will probably have to bleed the brakes. Check the brake hoses for cracking, stiffness or swelling. Check the entire system for leaks after topping off the master cylinder & stepping on the brakes several times. Also step lightly on the brakes & hold them to see if the master cylinder creeps down. Even after inspection, be sure that they're working right before driving. Try them in the driveway several times before taking it out. Expect the brake drums & rotors to have some surface rust, but that's usually light enough to come off after a few stops. But the brakes might be prone to grab or pull until it's gone. Depending where & how long it was stored, the rust might be more serious. It's not a bad idea to check the condition of the pads & shoes anyway, you can see how much rust there is at that point. There's probably a little but not much after being garaged. Does the parking brake work & release? Lube its cables while you're at it.

Check all the fluids. A radiator flush with a change of coolant is a good idea too.

If you decide to not remove & replace/clean fuel system components, here's my routine. If I suspect bad fuel, I disconnect the fuel line at the carb & run a fuel hose from a small gas tank sitting on a blanket on the roof. I have used a lawnmower tank for years, & recently got a small boat tank for the job. So you have known good fuel & positive gravity feed to the carb for the first fire up. If there is a fuel issue at that point, you know the carb itself has the problem. Also remove & plug the fuel line before the fuel pump so you don't have to deal with it pumping bad gas just yet. Even so, still direct the output line from the pump safely into a container in case there's a little fuel in the pump. I like to run a hose to a can on the ground. Later the input to the pump can be reconnected, the line from the pump can be used to empty what you couldn't get out of the tank, & flush a little new gas through the system into the gas can while the engine is run from the temp tank. All of this requires attention to fire prevention (Being sure that nothing is going to pump, leak, or drip fuel anywhere & that anything spilled while making connections is wiped up, dried, & the rags removed from the area & allowed to dry before throwing or washing) since the engine will be run while some lines are disconnected.

If you are inexperienced or don't feel confident about taking on this type of work, seek advice from a local experienced person, or take it to a shop to do the work.

 

[Rox Crusher]

Your description of it has me drooling for pics..........so please post some soon.

As it sounds like yours may be real close to stock....................please take some real good pics of the engine bay if you don't mind as many people need to know how they were originally plumbed.

It sounds like it was well maintained so I wouldn't recommend changing all fluids like I normally do.

Dropping the main fuel tank on the 77 model isn't that hard, typical floor jack can be used to hold the skid plate / tank cover up while you remove the bolts. I would do that and get all the fuel out of there. At the very least, siphon most of it out and then add a few gallons of fresh before starting.

 

[Pa PITT]

OK Sorry but lots of Rockie advise here is seems. Now I agree with Elkabong & Broncobowsher .. When I got my Bronco it had been setting for 5 years. I hauled it home. Placed it in the shop & placed an electric fuel pump on the fuel line .. Pulled out as much of the old fuel as I could. .. Added some new fuel and pumped some more out of it. Then put on new fuel line and cranked it up .. GOOD TO GO. YA WRIGHT.
...
..... ON mine it was funny. I had lots of other issues before I could drive mine. So I had to replace most of the brake system. & several other items just to drive it in the country.
.. FUNNY ....Mine had 2 tanks.. And for some reason I just had to make it run off that 2nd tank. Thank God I brought lots of extra fuel home to fill than tank completely full. When I filled it up it started to leak almost like I was just pouring it from the filler to the ground. So I flooded my shop with gas. So I let it set .. PULLed the Bronco just outside the door . I pulled the 2nd tank .. IT had about 4 very large cracks in it. and when I pulled it It must have had 2 lbs of dirt in it .. I could not believe the crap that came out of it.. So I plugged it off. It's basically ran great since.
.....................
.... I'd get the old fuel out and crank it .. Go from here. I would not mess with the carb until needed .

 

[302]

Hey Guys,

Thank you all so much for the great info and suggestions. I created a comprehensive to-do list and found a shop, Morgan Auto Service in Santa Monica, Ca that works on vintage and muscle cars. In fact, the guy who runs the shop, Dave Jacob recognized the Bronco when I towed it via flatbed over there -- he had worked on it back in the early 90s. Go figure.

Again, I super appreciate all your great suggestions. As soon as I get it back in about a week, I'll post some pics.

One quick question to confirm something: Are the original fuel tanks in the '77 plastic or metal?