I just bought a 1981 GMC truck 4 wheel drive. The truck had a new engine installed but wasn’t drive but for a very short time before the owner died. Since then the truck has set in a yard and hasn’t been started in over 2 1/2 years. The gas has been the tank for that long also. Any suggestions on what would be the best proceedure before attempting to start.
As others will advise, drain the tank as much as possible and fill with fresh gas. Put some oil in each spark plug hole and rotate engine over manually. Check sparkplugs while you have them out. If the battery is still good, charge it up, but you will likey need a new one. Check coolant level, oil level and all hose connections.
If this truck has a carburetor, squirt some carburetor cleaner in the throttle.
Before seriously driving it, I would check the tires for cracks, change the oil and filter, check the brakes, including the handbrake, all drive belts, and change the coolant if it still the original.
A transmission shop should check out the transmission, change fluid and filter (if automatic) and check the differentials and transfer case.
Not doing any of the above could result in serious damage if you start driving it a lot.
Thanks for the advice.