Hey everyone, I just bought a 87 4x4 silverado with the 6.2 It has been sitting outside for about 4 years with out being run. What are all the steps I should take before attempting to start it. I was thinking about dropping the tank to clean it out and replacing the lift pump with a electrical one. Let me know if I'm on the right track.

cleaning the tank is a good idea, change the oil, test your glow plugs, check the oil on the front/rear diff's + transfercase.

replace the fuel filter, flush the radiator and change the brake fluid ...

Thanks for the responses, I was planning to do all of that stuff but I was meaning more engine related. Clean the tank, change the fuel filter, change the lift pump and start to bleed out. Am I missing anything in there?

Fully charged batteries would be good... as would clean, tight cable connections including grounds. Remember not to crank and crank in attempts to get'er started... good way to burn up the starter. 10 seconds cranking, then a minute or so of cool-down before the next attempt.
And as mentioned, test the glow plugs / controller.

I bought an 84 Suburban that had been sitting in a field for 5 years a couple of weeks ago ($125 + $75 flatbed). I took off the intake muffler and vacuumed out the mouse crap, seeds and nuts. Did the same on the air cleaner. The fuel tank was full so I jacked up the rear, disconnected the fuel line at the pump on the motor and gravity drained a gallon to check the fuel. It looked good (not cloudy) so I drained the filter on the firewall and put in back on. The oil on the dipstick looked fresh and the coolant was very green. I had to get 2 new batteries. I cleaned up the wires and grounds with a wire bristol brush. I disconnected the pink wire from the injector pump, unscrewed the air bleeder on the filter and cranked it 3 times for 15 sec. waiting about a minute between cycles. Reattached the pink wire, closed the bleeder (which just leaked at the screw and nothing came out the tube) and loaded up the intake with WD40 and held the pedal about 3/4 to the floor. It started after 4 tries of about 15 sec cranking and spraying with WD40. Once I got it running I kept the idle up until it reached operating temp. There was a lot of black fur like stuff blown out of the exhaust pipes and loads of white smoke until it warmed up. I still haven't looked at brakes or anything since I bought it just for the drivetrain. This worked for me, don't know if it was the best, but it worked for me. :cool:

If an automatic trans also take the pan off and clean before even cranking.