So, why am I a crazy college student? Several reasons, read the story or skip below to where I ask the car question. So, the northeast US had a big snow storm last night so my flight today to Tennessee was canceled. Bad news right? Maybe not - a couple weeks ago it was 20 degrees F and snowing and I was crazy enough to venture 15 miles away from campus by bus with my mountain bike on the bus' bike rack. I was going to check out the local trap and skeet league located. But what I also found was an '87 (approx) 244 with 180k and M47 transmission parked at a house next door to the club. I shot trap, talked with a guy about the car, and then biked the entire 15 miles back to campus. I experienced a new kind of concern when my toes become numb and I didn't know if I was going to be able to warm them up. I did, by walking in circles for 15 minutes or so, but it was surreal being out in farm country utterly alone.

Background on the car: it's been sitting for 5-6 months, since the summer. It hadn't been driven much before that, except to the place where it now sits. The brakes need work, probably can stop the car. The emergency brake doesn't work. They've been trying to start it, they say it tries to start but seems to be starved for gas. Spraying ether (I've never heard of that) will keep it running. So it is not getting gas properly. All of us are guessing it is weather related. The extreme cold maybe has condensed water into the tank and it got sucked up into maybe the fuel filter and froze? The FPR is finicky about really cold weather? Gas residue is gunked in the FPR? A fuel pump is not responding well to the weather? I have limited tools and time (about the next 8 hours or so). My first thought is to add new gas. Second thought is to disconnect a fuel line and let some fuel pump out to make sure there is no water? I really have no cold weather car experience, so those with ideas please help out. What would be great would be a list of things to do and check that are possible without too many tools (fuel pressure measurement is not possible for instance).

I have replaced an B230F engine in a 740 before, so that is the experience level I'm at.

Thanks,
Nathan