Re: 30 years of not starting engine,should I try i
I'm from a different school than Tony. TS13571L was "put away wet" some 30 years before it came to me; and for it's first firing I just pulled the plugs, squirted each hole with a healthy dose of WD40, and then spun it with the starter until the oil pressure came up (with the plugs still out). Put the plugs back in, and set about making it run.
Dumped a gallon of gas in the tank, discovered fuel shut off valve was clogged and original pump didn't pump. So I temporarily bypassed both of them with a little Facet electric pump (part of my on-board spares kit).
No fire at the plugs, apparently the antique points were dirty, so I threw a new set of points in (again from the on-board spares kit, from TS39781LO). That & some carb cleaner down the carb throats (which also doubles as starting fluid) got it to fire and run for just a few seconds; long enough to indicate to me that the engine was basically healthy (no bad noises, no excess smoke from exhaust, etc.) Only then did I change oil, add coolant, adjust the valves (actually swapped in the recently reconditioned rocker shaft from the TR3A) etc.
My thinking was that I didn't want to put a lot of work into an engine that I might have to tear down anyway. This brief procedure (about an hour total) was enough to give me a list of what I wanted to do, which fortunately did not include pulling the engine.
But it kind of depends on your intentions. My goal (as usual) was a running, functional car as quickly as possible, rather than a complete restoration. As it happened, it worked out great for me. It's covered perhaps 2000 miles since then, and the only engine problems have been the screw for the condenser working loose; and the ignition coil failed during VTR/TRfest. Fortunately, TRF had some for sale at the event, so I was back on the road quickly.