Section 218. Transitional provisions

(a) Actions barred at effective date.
  Nothing in this article shall authorize any action to be commenced which
  is barred when this article becomes effective,  except  insofar  as  the
  right  to  commence  the  action  may be revived by an acknowledgment or
  payment.
    (b) Cause of action accrued and not barred at effective date. Where  a
  cause  of  action  accrued  before,  and is not barred when this article
  becomes effective, the time within which an  action  must  be  commenced
  shall  be  the  time  which  would  have  been applicable apart from the
  provisions of this article, or the time which would have been applicable
  if the provisions of this article had been in effect when the  cause  of
  action accrued, whichever is longer.