Offered a stood 1986 C4, what to check?

[wnwrd]

Hello all,

Hope this is the right area for this. I have been offered a family member's 1986 C4. She has recently moved to the south of France and wants rid. Because of this, it has been stood for nearly a year, but thankfully in a garage. However it has not been run during this time. Prior to parking it, she reported it had started "chugging" slightly, but the car never broke down or stopped running.

I've got family over with her at the moment who are willing to check the car out for me, and hopefully try and get it running prior to hauling it back to the UK. So what would you guys recommend we check before getting a battery booster on it and trying to turn it over? The car was a US import, not a UK model if that makes a difference.

Attached some (admittedly naff) photos, if there's anything more specific I could show to help please let me know!

Cheers guys!

 

[Steven Smith]

I purchased an 86 that had been sitting in a garage for 4 years, last year, and had it through MOT and was driving it within 3 months but it is by no means finished.
They aren't too difficult to work on but like all cars, have areas that you need to look out for.
The original tyres are 255/50-16 very hard to get and very expensive when you can, check the date code on the tyre, if over 10 years old you need to replace due to age but check for cracking as it has not been moved.
Check all the rubber seals, doors, windows, roof and rear glass as these perish, not hard to replace but expect to spend £600ish to do so.
The digital dash display is known to have issues, but can be rebuilt, check it all works.
I rebuilt my one for around £150 but there wasn't much wrong with it and I do all the work myself.
They don't suffer from rust too much but check brake and fuel lines that run underneath both sills, as these can rust or get crushed by incorrectly jacking the car up.
Check condition of all fluids and levels, are the oils clean ?
Disable the ignition and turn the engine over, does it crank over easy ? If all good reconnect and start it up, (fuel could be bad so take some fresh with you)
Don't push accelerator fully down as it won't start (flood clear feature) does it start and run ? Have you got oil pressure showing on display?
Look for smoke out of exhaust and look and listen for any noises.
Would advise having a fire extinguisher just in case, don't mean to be alarmist but fuel lines could be perished and better safe than sorry.
These engines run HOT if still standard, the engine fan turns on at 225°F (107°C) so don't be alarmed, if it hasn't turned on at 230°F turn it off. They draw air for cooling under the nose so are prone to getting all sorts of rubbish in there, check to see if anything in there.
If all okay try and drive it a little gently to make sure it can.
Then it's common sense really, how cheap is it, what will the import cost, what do you want from it, will it be cheaper to buy one already here.
The bottom line is it must be cheap to cover all the unknowns.
The club has a specific buyers guide and lots more technical information for full club members, including repair guide (and magazines) and discounts with parts suppliers.
Here is a basic guide that I found on line:

Chevrolet Corvette (C4) | PH Used Buying Guide

Many sneer at the C4 but a good example can be fun - and serious performance is only a few tweaks away

www.pistonheads.com