[72Heaven]

Well, I had a '71 that had been sitting for nearly 20 years because of a "bad" engine. It turned out to be a seized starter...

Anyway, all I did was change the oil (and the starter)
drop on a new carb (someone had helped themselves to the old one) and put in a battery.

It did run.
It fired two mice out of the exhaust (along with their homes, although the front end of a Suburban made sure they weren't homeless for long, ie, splat!)
the fuel system leaked horribly, all the rubber was shot.
The rings were stuck on two cylinders it burned some oil.
It didn't idle well with 20 year old gas. lots of smoke.
It stopped idling.

I replaced the fuel pump and rubber lines, cleaned the plugs and replaced the fuel filters.
Ran again.

Topped off the tank
Took it for a 200mile trip.
It used an excessive amount of oil and I had to rebleed the brakes (I had swapped on safe tires before the trip)

What I was most surprised at was the lack of tranny leaks, usually the autos leak after sitting and a pan gasket (at least) is in order.

What deteriorated in short order was the rubber bushings (including all the frontend stuff) the flex lines for the brakes, all the underhood vacuum lines, the belts and a number of fuel filters. Finally, the rear axle seals went. The radiator was dry and the those hoses stayed solid but the heater hoses did get "looped"

Of course 20 years is alot longer than what you have.

I guess my advice is to closely check all hoses (inside and out). A fire isn't any fun. First make sure the engine is "free." Actually go through the whole fuel system, change the oil and let 'er rip! (unless the engine is something super-great then I'd worry about pre-lubing! which really is a good idea, I'm just lazy)