Restarting unused engine

Hi - I have chance of MGB with genuine 20k miles but it has laid unused in a private garage for 18 years. How should I set about getting the engine running again? Peter

This is a tough one because it depends on how conservative you want to be. At the very least, you should squirt oil down the plug holes, spin the oil pump thru the distributer drive hole until the oil pressure comes up and hand rotate the engine a bit to distribute the oil. Of course you would replace all the fluids before attempting to start it then.

If your real conservative and don't want to risk a ruined cylinder wall, you would pop the head and look at the rings/walls.

And then the engine is only the first part since there are so many other rotating components that may have rusted...

Go to this link and print it out, it will tell you what needs to be done.
http://www.theautoist.com/awakening_a_sleeping_b.htm

The MGB oil pump has a seperate drive spindle, it cannot be primed through the distributor drive. See this article for priming the oil system.
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/of103.htm

Clifton

Many thanks. Most helpful. Have printed out reawakening MGB as a manual for guidance
Peter