Another tip

[Al Smith]

It's nearly impossible to seal the moisture from getting in an engine if it sits a long time .As such you could have a lot of problems one being stuck valves .If you roll it over with a stuck valve you take a chance of bending a push rod and that would suck .
My cure is take the valve cover off and tap each valve with a hammer to make certain it's free .You can tell if a valve is sticking .If so try some type of penetrating oil and light hammer taps but not like driving a railroad spike or you take the chance of breaking the valve guide which would also suck .Once it seems everything is okay take all the spark plugs out and give each cylinder a good shot of penetrating oil and let it sit a couple of days. After which roll it over without the plugs .If everything seems free then try to start it .Oh believe me it will smoke like it's burning soft coal but that will stop in a short .
Chances are it won't run right then comes the next phase .Put some type of penetrating oil in the gas like Marvel mystery oil and let it idle for half an hour .In a couple of days it should pep right up .
They've got all kind of penetrants now of days,Sea Foam etc . I put about half the little jug of the stuff in the crankcase oil and half in 5 gallons of gasoline . It's supposed to be enough for 20 gallons,about 5-6 bucks a pop . The age old standby is Marvel .If it worked in 1923 it will work in 2019 just as well-----old school forever .

 

[Altissimus]

Yep , something old that's been sitting awhile. I like it , a little work , oil , rap and tap some before ever turning the starter.

 

[flushcut]

Another awesome tip!

 

[cory]

 

[Altissimus]

Long time back a buddy was looking at buying an ancient tractor from the back trade yard at the dealership ( been sitting for years). In a stretch of below 0° days and colder at night , the staff tech went out and charged the battery , went back to start it ... Crankshaft broke !. I've always wondered if they had just towed the thing in and let it warm up for a day , then do like Al and turn motor over w a wrench first ...

 

[Dave Shepard]

A lot of the old one lunger engines have the valve perch snapped off when someone tries to roll the flywheels against a stuck valve.

 

[Tree09]

I had a buddy get a car running with stuck valves by using string shoved in the spark plug hole. Surprised the hell out of me

 

[Al Smith]

He jambed a rope in to shove up a valve that was stuck open .Another old trick .You can also stuff rope in to hold the valves up to change the valve seals .See more tricks than Carter has little liver pills .< that saying is older than the hills BTW .

 

[Burnham]

Like us, Al.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Common practice on Continental or Lycoming engines when doing an annual and you have a cylinder that is down.


You are only supposed to use nylon or cotton.....I cant remember!

 

[flushcut]

I would guess cotton. Al what's your take?

 

[SeanKroll]

My Guess is that cotton would burn right away, rather than melt before burning.

I've used rope to keep a piston locked in place to spin off the clutch.

 

[BlackSmith]

“to keep a piston locked in place to spin off the clutch”

Learned that from Al a good while ago, think of him every time I do it. Thank ya Al in case I haven’t before.

 

[Nutball]

I've been told an impact driver is easier, and I believe it. Just the vibration can easily kick the clutch loose without turning over many if any compression strokes, and just pull the start handle when driving it back on to relieve tension on the pull start mechanism if it is a kind that engages when the engine is stopped (some don't engage until the handle is pulled a few inches).

 

[BlackSmith]

I wouldn’t chance bust’n the flywheel key over saving a few minutes work. On some saws the key is part of the flywheel, no key, just molded into the flywheel.

 

[gf beranek]

I recall, back in the Nam in 1967, to bring life back to a 4 cylinder flathead Continental, which had froze up over time, I pulled the heads, shot solvent down the ports, and while rolling the engine manually used a hammer to beat the stuck valves down. All loosened up and back to running in less than an hour. Those old continentals were so easy to work on.

 

[BlackSmith]

Did that to a straight eight flathead in (if I remember correctly) a 41 Dodge Luxury Liner Gerry, even used the head gasket over. heh

 

[Burnham]

Devils that won't pay a lick of attention to the "proper" way to maintain and repair motors...all of you old 'effers.

Fear I'm in that cadre as well .

 

[gf beranek]

The technology has improved steadily since. but now motors are much more complicated to work on.

In 1972 I bought a 1950 Buick Special for 500 bugs. It was absolutely cherry. Perfect chrome and paint. Must have been stored in a garage, Flat head straight 8 with a 3 speed on the column. It was screaming at 60 mph. Had to pull back the reigns or she'd spill her guts. The Queen Mary incarnate on wheels.

Later a friend told me he could sell the old Buick to a collector for 3,600 bugs. Sold! We split the profits. That's when the dollar was worth something.

 

[gf beranek]

Field repairs were often brutal but would see you through.

In 1970 I took a ride across the USA, with a Nam buddy, in a 1961 Mercury Comet. Bought it legal off the lot in Santa Rosa, as is, for $99 bugs. NO guarantee. Went by way of Yosemite, Death Valley, southwest, across Texas and up to Toledo where the old bird finally died. In the interim we pulled off every imaginable trick to keep that old piece of technology going. Took a Greyhound to Syracuse , where my buddy lived, and bought a 1964 BSA Thunder bolt and rode that pig to Miami. But not without a few field repairs along the way.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nothing like a nice bus ride!

 

[Burnham]

My butt aches at the thought of riding a 1964 BSA from NY to FL. Those where miserably hard vibrating SOB's. Pretty machines, sexy sure enough...but not comfortable after a couple of hours. My Triumph 850 of ten years younger was not much better.

 

[gf beranek]

That is verifiable, as I lost feeling in my ass and my hands for 2 weeks after that ride.

 

[Burnham]

Old boys with their old toys . We share many an experience, from many different starting points, Jerry. My best to you and your fine Ms. B, sir. Y'all always welcome up here in NW Oregon, hope you know that.

 

[Al Smith]

The primary balance of those old British twins made it next to impossible to keep all the parts from rattling off .By golly they would scoot though . Rigid mount Harleys were a little better but not much if you removed the seat spring and big saddle to look cool .The only thing you could do is under inflate the rear tire .Yes,been there .

The only engine so far I haven't been able to un stick was a Caterpillar D4 pony engine .I bought it out of a scrap yard for 25 bucks from a machine that went through a brush fire .All I wanted was one piston and the crankshaft to repair another one .I literally carved those parts out with a die grinder and a box full of cut off wheels .Must have taken 12-14 hours a few hours at a time .On something made in like 1946 it isn't like you can trot on down to NAPA and find the parts .