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Bringing a sitting car back to life!


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Hey guys! So I'm ready to start trying to bring my 1977 B210 back to life. I bought it a few months ago. It has been sitting on a clean title non-op since 1986. The only thing missing from it is a battery. Got that, check!

 

Now what are all the things I should do to it before trying to fire it up?

 

Oil change?

Auto tranny fluid change?

Flush gas tank and lines? How do I go about flushing these out?

Clean out fuel pump? Is this possible to salvage the original? How?

Brake lines? How? I have a new master cylinder I can put in.

Anything else?

 

Thanks in advance! Mucho appreciate any help!!

 

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First thing, put some oil in each cylinder a tablespoon should do, let it sit. Change all fluids including the nasty gas.. or at this point tar. If there is none in there, consider yourself lucky.

 

Replace the master cylinder, get all new rubber brake lines, bleed the brakes. 

 

Fuel lines might be plugged, check.. maybe you got lucky. Check for fuel vent hosts, they might need replaced.

 

If the fuel tank is rusted, or has sludge in it, you'll have to pull it. Take it to a radiator shop to have them boil it. Some have had success dumping chain or nuts and bolts in it and shaking it for a long time to knock out any rust. I tried it several times, still had junk plugging my fuel filter. Either way, if it's in bad shape it needs to be pulled and cleaned. Probably sealed.

 

After that, should be good to go. Oil in the cylinders will break free stuck rings, will lube bores enough to not cause damage on a dry start.

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Easter is the best time of year for resurrections; A new Interstate battery from Castco is first, the gas tank is second, pull the sender and look inside if varnished pull the tank and have a radiator shop clean it. Blow out all the fuel lines, old gas is like sugar in your tank and it will crystallize on the valve stems, they will hang open and your pistons will bend them. It's not a bad idea to pull the valve cover, turn the engine over with your starter button coil unplugged and watch it oil the rockers. Rub the oil from your dipstick between your thumb and forefinger, if you can rub it out, change it but oil stays good for along time. Moisture can rust the valve stems and hang them open so if you have excessive lash, 12 cold you might have to tap on the valve stems with your Datsunhammer to get them to shut to bring the compression up enough for ignition. It's not unusual for the rings to be stuck until you run it for awhile and usually your needle and seat will stick open in your carb so you might have to pull the air cleaner asy and tap by the fuel inlet on the carb top with your Datsunhammer to get the fuel to shut off.Your ATF is probably OK, sniff it and it will tell you, burnt fluid develops sulfuric acid in it and you will smell it. ATF can stay good for ever or burn up anytime it reaches 300 degrees so your noise and the color will tell you. I like the BG AT Conditioner from e-bay which neutralizes the acid. When you are ready I can tell you how to shorten your modulator pin so it shifts later to go slow faster. After you get it to go then get it to stop.

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If you run new oil buy cheap bulk shit and dump it out after you get it running for something better.

 

Same with ATF but just change it after you get it going.

 

Beware  a car that if perfectly fine but for some reason was ignored and not driven. It probably has a blown head gasket of something worse. and they couldn't be bothered to fix it, wasn't worth fixing or was too formidable task to change. If gasket blown the cylinder may have had coolant leak in and seize it up/

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Man, you guys are awesome! I will take all of this information and USE IT! Lol. I can't wait to see what she looks like under that valve cover & most likely cylinder head. I did notice it has a lot of oil on the engine. Pics to come!

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Get that biatch running and bring it out to the SacDat meeting this Friday, at the Round Table pizza at coloma and sunrise...about 6:30pm. We have a few b210’ers.

Well, I probably won't have this car going by Friday, but I have 2 other B210's that are running. I will gladly attend this happening. Thanks!

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Well, I probably won't have this car going by Friday, but I have 2 other B210's that are running. I will gladly attend this happening. Thanks!

Nice. We all park by the ihop, it’s easier to all park together.

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Vehicles that sit for long periods love heat. Once you get it running, let it sit running for hours while you do something else. Keep an eye on it in case it starts to run hot or wires start smoking, but let it run and soak up all that heat. It helps flexible things like crank seals and valve stem seals come back to life gently.

 

Also, in your area, I would also be on the lookout for mud bees. They get into all sorts of small areas and plug things up. Fuel tanks, EVAP systems, inside the distributor cap. They can cause a lot of problems that aren't easily tracked down unless you're aware of their presence.

 

Good luck.

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Vehicles that sit for long periods love heat. Once you get it running, let it sit running for hours while you do something else. Keep an eye on it in case it starts to run hot or wires start smoking, but let it run and soak up all that heat. It helps flexible things like crank seals and valve stem seals come back to life gently.

 

Also, in your area, I would also be on the lookout for mud bees. They get into all sorts of small areas and plug things up. Fuel tanks, EVAP systems, inside the distributor cap. They can cause a lot of problems that aren't easily tracked down unless you're aware of their presence.

 

Good luck.

Oooh,very good info! Thank you!! The'74 I parted out had possums, rats, bees, mud wasps, and who knows what else living in it for ages when I got it. We even found a couple of petrified possums underneath it when we first moved it from old man's backyard. Then later I found a really cool rat skeleton in the windshield-wiper box area. Of course I kept it in a plastic baggie. I'm a weirdo that loves skeletons, especially pristine ones that are well preserved. And even cooler cuz it's our official mascot. It's a good omen. ;)
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If you run new oil buy cheap bulk shit and dump it out after you get it running for something better.

 

Add a quart of motor flush, it will cut through a lot of the sludge.

Also throw oil filters at it, as they will plug fairly quickly.

 

Dump the old gas, put in fresh, and I always run a high concentration of fuel system cleaner, like a bottle per gallon. 

Of course, throw fuel filters at it in the first 100 miles or so.

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Add a quart of motor flush, it will cut through a lot of the sludge.

Also throw oil filters at it, as they will plug fairly quickly.

 

Dump the old gas, put in fresh, and I always run a high concentration of fuel system cleaner, like a bottle per gallon. 

Of course, throw fuel filters at it in the first 100 miles or so.

Haha. Great! Now I have a use for all those new oil filters I got for "free" by purchasing oil from Oreilly's by the 5qt. jug.

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Oooh,very good info! Thank you!! The'74 I parted out had possums, rats, bees, mud wasps, and who knows what else living in it for ages when I got it. We even found a couple of petrified possums underneath it when we first moved it from old man's backyard. Then later I found a really cool rat skeleton in the windshield-wiper box area. Of course I kept it in a plastic baggie. I'm a weirdo that loves skeletons, especially pristine ones that are well preserved. And even cooler cuz it's our official mascot. It's a good omen. ;)

Weirdo...!

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Its a shame to leave your mascot in a bag.

Honor him properly and have him articulated.81%2B8Xiv3qCL._SL1500_.jpg

That would be freakin' awesome! If only there were enough left of him to articulate. The bones are so thin they're practically paper. :( Sad days.
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I’m not brave enough to use a crankcase flush, if you think about it the normal accumulation of crud in your crankcase can only add 5 degrees of engine heat and does no harm if left alone. If you add a solvent, break it loose pump it through your pump and bearings scratching everything along the way and try to clog your 1/8th inch oil feed hole to your rocker with the brew how much good have you done. Scratched bearings cause internal oil leaks and the oil leaks out of the journal and falls back into the pan instead of building pressure all the way to the rockers. The can of flush should say “Flush Your Crankcase and Reduce Your OP By Half, Ha, Ha”

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I use ATF in the oil as a flush. When doing an oil change, simply substitute one quart of oil for a quart of cheap ATF. It is highly detergent and will help scrub the gunk out of the rotating assembly. It also helps free up stuck rings and the pressure relief valve in the oil pump.

 

It may smoke while it's in there, but that's normal as it slips by the rings. Run it for a couple hundred miles if you want to.

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