I'm going to be looking at a 1st gen race car that hasn't raced in 5 years. The current owner said that he regularly started the engine for the first 2.5 years but hasn't started it since then. My rotary knowledge isn't very extensive so I'm concerned about starting the engine back up after it sitting that long as well as the issue of a frozen seal and one failing shortly after getting the engine running again. What sort of things should I think about and how real of an issue is motor failure happening shortly after getting the engine running again and back up to speed so to speak?

 

get some oil into the chambers and rotate the engine by hand. change the oil and filter. MAKE SURE TO ESTABLISH OIL PRESSURE BEFORE ACTUALLY STARTING THE ENGINE. start it and let it run through it's heat cycle a few times. get some way to monitor fuel supply and air/fuel ratios (EGT or AFR gauges) and be sure to tune it before even thinking of jumping on it for ANY full throttle runs.