Car 3 years off the road. How much to get going again?

Archeron

Hi all,
I hope ye might be able to offer some advice.
Due to having a company van for a number of years, my own momo has been off the road for nearly 3 years. Sadly, it wasnt in storage, but sitting in my front garden, so it has been exposed to the elements.

The car never had any problems (engine ran a bit fast, nothing too bad I dont think) and as far as I can tell, its just gone a bit stagnant now. I know I'll need new tyres, and new battery, and a major service, but what would you say would be the cost of getting her back to roadworthy condition? I need to have my own car again quite soon, so I want to put my own car back on the road instead of buying a new one. The car is a 91 Honda Integra. Bodywork is 100% fine, I'm just a bit worried about how much this could cost, and what could need to be replaced after such a lenghty time.
thanks all!

BrianD3

Quite a lot coudl happen actually. You could well have brake problems especially if you left the handbrake on all that time and the car never moved. Even if the handbrake wasn't on, seized caliper pistons are likely.

Clutch could have stuck itself to the flywheel. May unstick itself easily enough although there's the possibility of damage occuring.

If you didn't drain your petrol tank, any petrol in it may have turned into varnish :eek: I don't know what the solution to this is though.

ianobrien

I recently put a car back on the road. The car stood in a dry shed for 2 years and the problems were.

1. Front brake pads "gone off", ie loads of meat on the pads, but will not stop the car.
2. Rear brake shoe linings came off shoes
3. Rear brake cylinder burst after 500 miles.
4. Metal brake pipes were corroded. One burst during NCT, and the car failed on all other brake pipes. The only solution was to replace every metal brake pipe in the car!
5. Driver's electric window motor gone lazy
6. Choke & throttle cables stiff. Getting better after repeated WD-40 applications
7. Oil leaks from engine (coming from bottom of head, I'll sort when valve oil stems are done, as head has to come off)
8. Exhaust rear section rotten.
9. Front left caliper was sticking, but it freed after some work.
10. Driveshaft gaiters had to be replaced (and I cut a new one putting it on, and I didn't spot it. The NCT tester did!)
11. "Interesting" left headlight (the main beam was on half strength)

Some of the jobs left include
1. New speakers (the cardboard rotted off the old ones)
2. New timing belt/Valve oil stems/head gasket. Will be done in one go.
3. Shock change
4. Gearbox rebuild.
5. Engine rebuild in the next year or so.
6. Change window and sunroof rubbers.
7. New engine water & fuel hoses.
8. Flush the rad.

And the car wouldn't start last night. I suspect wiring, coil or distributer had gone south!

All in all, an easy one. The only thing that I got done by a mechanic was the brakes. I did the rest myself, and I'll tackle the engine rebuild myself. I'll try anything with a car, but brakes are left to the experts (What if I mess it up, and I find out passing a school?)