I've made a bit of progress. I was able to try to turn the crank (I finally got the correct socket!) and believe it or not, the engine turned beautifully, with little effort to crank it around several rotations. Obviously, the oil in the cylinders made a difference.

The radiator is mostly dry, although I didn't try to drain it yet. However, there is nothing in sight when you open the radiator. I took the thermostat housing off and at first it appeared that the thermostat was encased in crystallized coolant, but when I went to try to remove the thermostat, it popped right out. It still seemed to open just fine so I put it back in for the time being. There was no coolant in the engine, though, so obviously everything has evaporated over time. I plan to drain the radiator and then refill it next time I'm working on it. Hopefully, I don't get a bunch of puddles underneath when I refill it!

Next, I moved to the gas tank. First I tried to drain it by removing the drain plug. When I did, I got about 20 drops of old gas out of it and that was all, so obviously, the gas has evaporated as well. It does smell a bit like varnish. I went to remove the tank to clean it but couldn't get the gas line fitting loose, so I can't remove the tank just yet. I need to get a flare nut wrench on it and can hopefully break it loose. I did order some Star Tron Gas Tank & Fuel system cleaner that is supposed to dissolve old gas varnish. I'll pour some of that in the tank and hopefully that will help loosen up the gas line fitting. Then I can clean it all up.

I also found out that the tires will hold air, at least for a few days, so I don't need to worry about buying new tires immediately. My Dad was a big believer in having tubes in the tires in case you broke a bead while four wheeling. Therefore, all tires have tubes in them and I suppose the tubes are protected from the UV and weather, so they seem to be able to be inflated without any heartache.

All in all, things are going along pretty smoothly so far.

Next steps are to remove the various gas lines from the fuel pump and carb and make sure they are cleaned out. I should probably look at cleaning the carb as well, but I'm not sure exactly what I need to do there. Maybe just squirting Carb Cleaner all over would be sufficient? Any suggestions are welcome. I'll also open the distributor cap and make sure the points are cleaned up a bit. And, I'll put in fresh plugs. Once all of that is done, I might be ready to try to fire the ol' girl up. We'll see, I suppose.