Dead engine revival techniques

[Milsteads Garage]

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I saw a guy this morning selling snake oil from 1934 so I figure I would start a thread so all of you could post your tricks and methods that you might know to get your old engine running again. Bon-ami tricks, acetone tricks, water to break up top end carbon, if you got em, I want to hear them!

[jdsnoddy]

To eliminate loose carbon knock, take some transmission fluid and pour some directly in the carburetor.

[Jack Bowser]

Banana's will quiet down a nosy rear end. Guys with class will peal them first. Ha!

[Milsteads Garage]

To eliminate loose carbon knock, take some transmission fluid and pour some directly in the carburetor.

This also works for stuck valves. Whoever used to give out info years ago at Bakers Auto, told me about this trick. The engine of course smokes like hell while you are doing it but highly effective if you don’t want to remove cylinder heads when an engine keeps bending push rods.

[jdsnoddy]

And this might be an option for 3730.
John

[Milsteads Garage]

Banana's will quiet down a nosy rear end. Guys with class will peal them first. Ha!

You are thinking of sawdust lol

[lld]

Using a quart of Marvel Mystery oil or automatic transmission fluid does make a noticeable difference with noisy tappets (hydraulic lifters). Of course, you must drain enough oil (or do it at an oil change) to make sure you don't overfill the crankcase.

Larry

[Bill K]

And this might be an option for 3730.
John

Hi John, yes, can't hurt, though I will say that I have no valve noise at all, sounds new.... My plan for this week is to remove the Pertronix ignition and go back to the points/condenser that I replaced. Someone on this forum said their Mark II did not run well with the Pertronix, hope mine makes two..

Per the combined advice of many, my engine revival was as follows.
Pulled all plugs, added 30ml automatic tranny fluid and crank engine over a few times. I did this often over a 2-3 week period while working on the property.
Filled crankcase w/ oil and added a BG EPR engine cleaner, ran for 10 minutes and drained/replaced oil filter.
Filled crankcase w/ diesel fuel, ran for 10 minutes, replaced oil filter, drained. Repeated twice.
Filled with regular oil and still clean as new... And I did throw away the oil filter when I started the process ��LOL

Fingers crossed w/ points!!!!

Fortunately a potential buyer for the property is willing to take procession the first of the year so I may have bought myself more time to enjoy this car! Would love to not sell, just not feasible....

Bill

[Milsteads Garage]

For a stuck engine: dump 1 gallon of off road diesel fuel straight down the intake manifold. You can let it sit from 4 hours to two weeks depending on how much time you have. Place a large drip pan under the engine, remove the spark plugs and try the starter. If the starter does not move the engine, remove the bell housing side cover on a 56 or the starter motor on a 57 and try to move the engine backwards using a pry bar on the ring gear teeth. It might take a fair amount of rocking depending on how stuck it is. If a good effort is given and the engine still does not move, the rust damage is too severe and will require removal and disassembly of the engine.

[Milsteads Garage]

Stuck valves/bent pushrods: common problem on a 368 that has been sitting. If the engine has stuck valves along with bent push rods, here is what you do. Remove the rocker shaft and push rods. Spray Pb blaster inside of the valve spring being sure to nail the valve stem. Rotate the engine so the piston is always down. I take two hammers, one to place on top of the valve stem (not the spring) and one to strike the other hammer basically using the lower hammer as a punch. Wear safety glasses/shield and knock the valve down to where the spring coil binds. The valve will eventually pop back up, but repeat the process. Spray the valve stem, smack the valve down and it should get to the point where it springs back up immediately on its own. Do this with all 16 valves. Reassemble and run the car. Either take transmission fluid or more on blaster and slowly pour down the intake while the engine is running. This should cure your bent pushrod problems.