Ok so now the valve that was stuck closed is now stuck open. You still have to take it apart. With the motor sitting for "40 years" and being stuck, I would think it better to pull the heads and intake and pan just to do a "look see" and clean up. The last flathead I took apart had been sitting for years, the owner got it running and was driving it. It ran good for about 20 min and then the engine would smoke like the devil. When we took the intake off we found a mouse nest in the valley, this was keeping the oil from draining back to pan. Oil would then flood the valve guides and and get ****ed into the cylinders. I would just do a little clean up before running it.
Many years ago I had a '51 Merc with stuck valves. My dad stripped the cam gear turning the engine over with a long pipe - then he gave me the car as my graduation present! There was a local flathead spe******t who had been working on Ford V8s since Henry was a boy. He told me to pull the heads and intake and work the valves with heat and penetrating oil and that they would loosen up and work fine. I was an impatient stupid kid and didn't want to work that hard, so he traded me even up for a worn- out '53 truck motor that still ran. I'm sure he had that Merc running in no time and made nice cash selling it. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A wise old man stopped by and saw me doing the very same thing to a steam engine years ago . It would move so far then dead stop . He says " pour it full of Coke, Boy, and let her sit over night ." I'm thinking this old dude has been doing some Coke ! But WTH , I'll try it . 4 , 2L of Coke . 2 days later free as if it was never stuck . I know sounds crazy , for me too. But it worked , with in a week steam into it and never looked back.
Sometimes you can get lucky with a stuck flathead, I know I did Mine just needed motor oil in the cylinders for a week & then put it in gear & rocked it back & forth, broke free easy, file the points, wire brush the plugs & fill the carb via fuel bowl vent & vroom !
Well - it is cool that you got it unstuck and lubricated the cylinders a bit . . . but why take the chance and not pull the intake and heads? That is what I'd do on any engine that sat that long. Then you'll have a MUCH better idea as to rust in the bores, rusted valves, junk sitting places, etc.. Also, pull the oil-pan and clean all the solidified oil and sludge out of it! They used non detergent oil back in the day - and I'm sure you have a nice bunch of thick goo in your pan - it can't be easily drained out, so pull the pan and clean everything up. While you're down there - pull the center or front main cap and inspect the main bearings . . . same with a rod bearing or two. Worse case - you'll know what you have . . . best case, it is all good and then you can proceed to start it. You do not want to try to start it without doing these things - because you can easily screw up something that just required a bit of clean-up, inspection and new gaskets. Be smart now . . . it doesn't take that long!
Bored&Stroked is giving you excellent advice. You've got two things going against that flatty. First is that, if it hasn't run for 40 years, a lot of its running time was with non-detergent oil in the crankcase. It likely has thick grey sludge in the lifter valley and pan. If you put any of today's oils in it other than non-detergent, that **** will loosen up and get circulated through the engine, if it doesn't plug the oil pump first. Even if you use non-detergent I'd expect some of that stuff to come loose once it gets to operating temperature a couple time. Second thing is that you have no idea what kind of pitting or rust might be on the valve stems, lifters, cylinder bores, etc. Rust is abrasive, and any of it in the engine between moving parts will get ground loose, flushed to the pan, and start circulating with the oil. Again, not a good thing if you want a long-lasting happy engine. All that said, maybe neither is true in the case of this particular engine, but it was stuck, and 99% of the time the thing that causes "stuck" is rust.
I bought a 28 Durant once with a 4 cyl that was rebuilt in 49 and never ran. Couldn't get it to run and met an ol timer in town that had a few of them. Invited him over and as soon as he got out of his car he had a br*** hammer in his hand and said to pull the head. I did what I wAs told and he kept squirting marvels on the valves, and tapping them with his hammer until they started working. He then said bolt the head back on. I said don't we need a new head gasket? He said these motors don't have enough pressure to know so we will reuse it for now. Sum***** put it back together and 5 minutes later we were riding It around my backyard in the darn thing. . Yes this pile of tied together **** because all the wood rotted away It and drove, never smoked one bit. Good luck and don't give up. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
****** (^^^^) is absolutely correct. Tear the engine down and see what condition it's in - broken rings, worn parts, cracks in block, worn cam - who knows, but why risk a block that's getting hard to find and expensive when you find it !
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