92GTA

All of this is in the context of perfect storage; ie indoors, parked on moving blankets in a fully finished/insulated facility, consistent year-round temp, 30-35% humidity, under a breathable cover, pitch black darkness (no UV), etc. etc. The way I usually empty the tank is to remove the fuel pump assembly from the top (or bottom on a motorcycle), use a hand pump to manually suction it dry, fog the inside of the tank with fogging oil, then re-seal.

Being honest, I've woken up several cars that used MMO and after 20 years they were as gunked up as anything. Not as bad as leaving fuel in there to turn into solid mustard powder, but not great. So a custom mixture of some sort I've not landed on IMO is called for. An alternative method I've tried in the past is running denatured alcohol through it all then compressed air. This leaves zero residue, BUT, will hopelessly dry out anything rubber. Of course doing this requires removing the park plugs to fog the cylinders, which ranges from easy on some cars to near impossible on others. I have another project on the side where I flushed with denatured alcohol, air compressed dry thru the fuel rail, and then flushed with motorcycle brake/clutch grade pure mineral oil and then drained. Thinking the denatured alcohol did the cleaning and the mineral oil will leave enough to maintain the fuel lines, injector o-rings, pump, etc. all lubricated just enough to fend off corrosion. Again tho, can't run mineral oil thru gasoline injectors so spark plugs had to be removed to fog the cylinders. Perhaps the answer is to do the last one but to fog the cylinders, spray it into the TB wide open while cranking the engine over to suck it in (ignition disconnected of course).

Yeah, that is a very short-term. A less than 2 years I'd say sort of solution at best.

I appreciate your thoughts on the items out-of-scope for this conversation, but rest assured that those concerns are already addressed and don't need to be considered. This topic is just to focus on the fuel system and combustion chambers, ideas on how to do so, and discuss creative ways of perhaps doing it.

10 years plus. I'd expect every 5 or so years the need to re-do the process to keep the fuel system clean, pump functioning, injectors flowing, and combustion chambers lubricated. Of course, the better alternative is to do a fresh engine rebuild and pack the damn thing solid with grease. Or put the vehicle in an argon encapsulation. But those aren't options for my 92 Trans Am.

Not sure why anyone would want to run water through an injector, that's only going to lead to corrosion. But speaking to gasoline injectors, they have solvents run through them for cleaning purposes with zero problems.

That's some great info, thank you! In the case of my 92 Trans Am, warming up the engine and then flooding it out on fogging oil is an option. I'm admittedly more worried about the Sta-Bil gunking up the injectors after 10-20 years than cylinder rust based on my environment. Which is why I was thinking about doing the whole fuel system. That boat technique with mixing the fogging oil with non-eth might be an option if it's a really oil heavy mix.

Well obviously the best product to use would be ACF-50, but it's not meant to be burnt. So recommissioning the engine in the future would be a MUCH more difficult task. Fogging oil I don't think can be pushed by the fuel pump at the pressures needed to open the fuel injectors properly. It would need to be a super light weight, like super light.

I had a thought I wanted to run by others here. I have a 92 Trans Am that I need to prep for long-term storage. We all know it's best practice to drain the fuel tank and then run the engine until it stalls to empty the fuel. We also know you should remove the spark plugs, fog the cylinders, then seal off the intake and the exhaust. All good and well, however, this process leaves residual fuel in the pump, fuel lines, fuel rails, and fuel injectors. What IF instead I did it this way; I'd still run the car to empty on gas, but instead of pulling the plugs to fog the cylinders, I'd pour a couple of gallons of a WD-40 like substance into the fuel tank. Then disable the ignition spark, turn the key to prime the system with the WD-40, and then give the engine a session of extended cranks. The fuel pump should be able to move something the viscosity of WD-40 up to pressure (43.5psi) so the injectors operate. This would flush and effectively safeguard my fuel pump, fuel lines, fuel rails, injectors, combustion chambers, and even the inside of the exhaust at the cylinder head against the effect of fuel deterioration and corrosion. Thoughts? Has anyone tried this on motorcycles, boats, etc.? I also have a fuel injected motorcycle I'd like to do this to. Thanks!

I did this with my 56 Corvette as well, great time.

My oldest son is turning 14 this Friday and he is wanting a 1969 Firebird instead of a 70 Chevelle like before. Owning a 92 Firebird, who am I to argue lol! We are looking for any condition rust-free with title 1969 coupe within about 1,500 miles at the most. Doesn't have to have a drive train or interior, except I would like a dash with gauges. It's will be a 3 year project for us together but he doesn't have much to work with on the purchase cost. He has been saving and I am matching him dollar for dollar and I'm also helping out on the project parts costs. We are doing all labor ourselves including paint so save money. Please let me know if anyone knows of any rust free rolling coupes around. Thanks! alexclaytor@gmail.com

Negative, always the negative!!!

I just sold my '56 Vette and I was born in '80

I just made a thread here: http://www.acccdefender.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=150 Post a link to it on every car site and forum you now! Spread the word!!!!! I know there is a lobby to get rid of ethanol fuel all together, good luck on that one. I'm just talking about getting more local pumps with ethanol free fuel in as many cities and towns as we can, NOW! Please post any constructive suggestions, I need as many good ideas as I can get to get this off the ground!!!!!! Thanks! Alex

True but the 20-30mins mentioned is just too long IMO. I could also overfill my crankcase with oil a bit so the crank can grab more oil to sling. I also think 10mins right from cold start would be ok since the high idle cam will hold after the choke until the throttle is blipped which will also help lube the cam.

No way I would idle my '56 for that long just because of being a solid lifter/flat tappet cam and the cam won't get enough oil splash without sufficient RPM to sling the oil off the crank shaft. Great way to ruin a vintage engine. Just saying. There are technical reasons for doing things a certain way.

Very cool! I look forward to progress updates with lots of pictures

Well worth every penny of $20K! Great car!

If you can't even start the car to proove everything works correctly as it came from the factory, what's the point :confused:

That is odd though, the engine in my 92 Trans Am is the same setup. My smog pump mechanically locked up but even with a serpentine belt, the engine started right up but squeeled like crazy! I thought the AC compressor had frozen, the started smoking the belt right away too. All this with a fairly new tensioner.

I also know the entire alignment has to be set up differently from spec to properly account for radials. I have Coker bias ply reproduction Firestones on my '56 Vette and to be honest, I think it turns and handles just fine. I especially think it feels really smoothe too. It is what it is, and for what it is, it rides and handles more than fine with original style tires. That said, if I was going to do some cross country touring, I would change the weels as mentioned, add the radials, and do the alignment changes. All just for the safety aspect if nothing else.

Ummm, GM's 7L and 6.2L V8's are at the top of the entire game beating anything from Mopar or Ford in terms of HP/TQ, they don't need a different number just to be the same like Mopar and Ford. Although I agree that putting 427 on the Z06 would be sweet Anyway, God bless America just for us having cars like this in this day and age! As far as the metric system lol, that's a different discussion entirely...

I graduated in 2000 and drove a 1982 Firebird that I bought for $350 and an engine for $350. Over my freshman summer I got the engine in and cleaned up what I could. I beat the crap out of that car lol. I've owned about 20 cars since then and learned allot!

Not at all scientific but.... If I had a car only driven 500 miles per year, I would change the ATF, rear diff, etc. every 10 years no matter what. Brakes I would do every 5 and coolant every 3 or 4. Engine oil has been beat to death so I won't touch that one...

Wow! Thanks for posting!!