1973 Cadillac EL Dorado Engine starting

I have a '73 Eldorado with a 502 big block. Its been sitting in my garage for 14 years. My uncle had it running about 10 years ago, the a/c pump is all corroded and was wandering if I should put the battery on and see if it will crank? Also if it does crank over should I just put some gas in the carb and take a chance that the gas in the tank aint all gummed up to run it? Or should I just drop the tank before I try to start it? Thanks for your time!