Starting "unstarted" gremlin...

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, the most damaging thing is lack of oil on the internal parts. If you 
REALLY want to do things right, then you could, if it's a 6-cylinder engine, 
remove the distributor, get a special oil pump slotted tool shaft that 
engages the shaft under the distributor gear to the oil pump, and turn it 
with an electric drill until you get oil pressure. This won't work, I don't 
think, with a V-8 AMC/Gremlin motor. If you DON"T want to buy the tool, 
remove the spark plugs, and just crank the engine for awhile until the oil 
pressure comes up ( you could also remove the valve covers, and hand-spray 
all the parts with oil to coat them ). That way, you take away all the 
pressure and heat from it while it's building oil pressure, and it'll turn 
over MUCH faster without plugs.You will loose a few thousand miles of 
potential use on the engine by just starting it up and doing nothing, but at 
18k, you've got alot to work with! Me, I'd just remove the plugs, squirt some 
light oil into each cylinder, crank the engine with plugs OUT, then once it's 
turned over about 1 minute, put the plugs back in, and go for it! Depends on 
how much you want to baby it. Unless you want to take off the oil pan and 
squirt oil on the internal side of the cylinder sleeves, you'll have to 
accept some engine wear. Besides, oil drains down every nite from your 
daily-use car engine, and most engines are virtually dry-started every day. 
That's why hi-po cars use a "sump pump" to pre-pressurize the oil pressure to 
the motor before cranking ( kinda like an electric fuel pump, only much more 
expensive! ). Most car's engines would probably last 300,000 miles or more if 
they had a sump pump added to the engine ( that's why you don't see the auto 
manufacturers doing it....they wouldn't sell as many cars! ) I swore if I 
ever put money into an engine rebuild, I'd spend the $500 or so it'd take to 
mount a sump pump to preserve it. So far, haven't had the car worth doing it 
to. 
So, that's my 2 cents worth on trying to restart a car that's been sitting 
awhile. I"m helping a guy with a '76 Matador that's been sitting awhile, too, 
we'll just stick a battery in it and go for it. Good luck on it, take good 
care of it, John! Not many low-mileage cars like that are around at all! 

Jerry Casper
Woodbridge, VA
'78 Gremlin GTs ( two, but one's too rusty to save )
'76 Gremlin w/no motor
'74 Gremlin, runs
'71 Gremlin w/factory sunroof
'70 Hornet SST
'70 Javelin w304 3/spd
'79 Pacer wagon