A quick howdy and introduction to y'all! Have been following the forum for some months now and have already learned a lot so thanks for that -- I'm in Austin, TX and recently purchased a 1973 Series III SWB, 35K miles, from original owner (have owner and shop manuals, purchasing paperwork, receipts for parts replaced, etc). Rig has not been started for 9 years so I am not sure what all I'll be facing but it is rust-free below in spite of its intense Texas sunburn above! Trailered the rig home on Xmas eve and have been slowly going at it, system by system, as the day job permits; initial clean up showed that the oil-based air cleaner had been doing its job -- the little scorpion found floating in the oil bath is very nearly pertrified!
Cleaning the fuel tank was a big effort -- good news is that it was nearly full with 10 gallons of gas; bad news: the gas sat in there for 9 years and about a pint of sludge slowly oozed out and almost clogged the filler neck. It took a long time to chemically and mechanically clean the tank (would have been easier to just buy a new tank but I wanted to see if I could in fact clean it) and followed the cleaning with the POR 15 tank sealer treatment -- the fuel tank will now outlive me, ha ha! Will attach pics of the clean tank in another note.
I'll update this thread as I move things forward. Have rebuilt its original Zenith carb (came with a Weber attached) and am moving forward on the fuel system. Might even try to start it this coming week.
I'm sure that I'll have many more questions to come! Thanks again for all of the great tips and advice!
(removed the sludge picture 2010_11_10)