Coming Out Of Storage!

[89SHOMAN666]

Hi I have an 89 SHO that I will be pulling out of storage soon. It's a long story but my free storage is no longer available. So it looks like I am going to be attempting to get this thing on road! It has sat for 2 years, in a heated building. I was hoping it could sit there until I finished college but no such luck.

I bought the car when I was 15 and now I'm 17 in my senior year of high school and just about ready to head off to my college of choice (Purdue)! But since my storage is no longer available I had to decide whether I wanted to fix, drive, or sell it. I decided to fix and drive it.

I am going to have to fix some of the nagging problems this thing has had since I bought it. I wasn't expecting to write a whole paragraph about this problem for a one sentence question but the whole situation has me discouraged.

On to the question what is the availability of the rod shifter? Is it still purchasable item? One other thing this car before I owned it sat outside for 3 years. So in all actuality it has not been run hard for about 5 years. Any suggestions for components you would check because it has sat for such an extended period? It has 88,000 miles on it and it has not had the valve adjustment yet so I realize that it is in need some work on that end. I have one electrical problem but I'll post about that on the electrical page.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Peter AKA 89SHOMAN666

<small>[ January 24, 2004, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: 89SHOMAN666 ]</small>

 

[wood_e]

For sitting for that long I would change the oil & filter for sure. I would also change the fuel filter, and run that gas through the car then put good gas in with injector cleaner...

Rod shifters are available on ebay...

 

[Rockledge]

I agree with changing the oil, oil filter, air filter and also the fuel filter. And while you are under the car replacing the fuel filter, it is a perfect time to drain the old gasoline out of the tank using the procedure described HERE. Then you can put in fresh gas and add some fuel system cleaner to that, if you like.

I would also confirm that the other fluids are up to the proper level and do my best to ensure that the belts and hoses are all in decent shape. After that, I'd drive around for a while on a regular basis and fall into a regular SHO-specific maintenance schedule. You can also expect during this time to be tackling a few other issues that will probably pop up from time to time (because it's a SHO, after all ). And you can also start planning and budgeting for the bigger jobs such as 60K work.

Good luck, have fun, but drive safely!

 

[fricker66]

In addition to the above mentioned details, I'd recommend flushing the cooling system and replacing the thermostat.

Unless the cable shifter needs repaired, personally I'd hold off on the rod shifter upgrade until all the other issues that need attention are repaired. Guess that's probably why my 89 still has the cable shifter.... The rod shifters are availabe on ebay and also in the classifieds on this forum.

 

[TYSHO]

Be ready for oil and tranny leaks like crazy from all the seals!

Camshaft seals
Crankshaft seal
Rear main seal
Input and output seals

That happened to my SHO that sat for 2.5 years, the seals dried up.

 

[89SHOMAN666]

Hey,
Thanks for all the info. Before I packed it away I put a fuel stabilizer into it and I have made sure that every six months or so it gets started and more stabilizer is added. I also put Mobil 1 oil in before I stored it so that's up to *****. I never changed the gear oil in the transmission so that will have to be done but that's no big deal.

I'll make sure I get the sixty thousand miles service completed. Guess what the best part about this whole thing is? To get it home I have to drive it 600 miles! Oh well, such is life. I wasn't expecting this but I guess it's a mixed blessing. I'll finally be able to drive it! The other thing that I did before I stored it was I had to replace the rear break calipers, rotors, pads, and the front break pads. The calipers were frozen solid.

The other half of the story with this car (the 3 years it sat when I didn't own it) is much more interesting! lol It was owned by a doctor (he bought it for his wife). She passed away and due to the grief he never moved it from when she last parked it, kind of weird and very sad at the same time. Anyway to make a long story short, it sat out on the street for 3 years under a pine tree. It had 1 inch of pine junk all over it when I got it. Well he sold it to me for nothing because all he wanted to do was get-rid of it, the city where he lived had taken him to court over it being sat on the street and never moved. The weirdest thing was when I went to have the title changed he had to bring in his wife's death certificate. Very Creepy!

So, I bought it went over put gas in it and it started up! I drove it 60 miles home. Since then I have spent over 100 hours whenever I get a chance cleaning it up. Amazingly it has not a spot of rust on it and it runs fantastic. It doesn't even consume any oil. Anyway I was storing it until I could get a chance to restore it. But that's no longer available so I will have to prematurely get it road worthy. That's the small version of the other half of the story.

Anyway thanks guys!

Peter AKA 89SHOMAN666

<small>[ January 25, 2004, 12:14 AM: Message edited by: 89SHOMAN666 ]</small>