Well finally got the styleline started last night. It fired right up but has a knock its not real loud and seems to quiet when you rev it alittle. any ideas of what it could be?
No I havent yet. The only thing I have done is drain the gas tank and changed the oil and filter. When I bought the car I was told that it had been sitting for 4 yrs.
check the oil pressure, might have a faulty oil pump. and i beleive a 51 ran leaded gas, much like my 54 plymouth. so you need to add the lead addative to the fuel so your valves dont burn out. (it may have already happened) if you look at a diagram of the oil passages you'll see they dont go up to the valves, the lead in the fuel lubes them. that may be why you have a knock. and of course a valve adjustment may be needed.
ANY automobile/truck (ceptin' for diesels) up to the mid 1970's (I think 1974 and phased out from 1975-1986) ran leaded gasoline -two varieties, "Regular" and "Ethyl" (premium)...it was the only thing available...there was no such thing as unleaded. A bit of history...Charles F. Kettering, VP of Research of GM, owned a research lab and helped developed Tetra Ethyl gasoline. GM and Standard Oil Company formed The Ethyl Gasoline Corp., and E. I du Pont participated as a one-third owner of G.M. and the company became one of the largest tetraethyl lead manufacturers back in the early twenties...any wonder why the engines they produced ran well on Ethyl gasoline...??? R-
I don't mean to be contrary here, but yes, there was unleaded gas back then. If you wanted the "best" gas you got Amoco white gas. It was high test. Lead was added to gas as a cheap octane enhancer, not a lubricant. Amoco had a better octane enhancer but you paid more for it. Lead fouls valves and spark plugs. Just ask any aircraft mechanic. The knock in your engine is probably a rod bearing. You can pull the pan and check them and adjust the shims, or you can keep the oil clean, don't pound on it too hard and get a lot more miles out of it. It has poured babbit bearings. They don't like RPM's.
Hey thanks for the info. I did find a metal rebuilt tag on the side of the block just dont know when it was rebuilt.
I stand corrected... Maybe you all had that back east, but in the Midwest (Iowa), never heard of it, hence my initial answer...so I did a little research... I quote: "The "Amoco" lead-free gasoline was sold at American's stations in the eastern and southern U.S. alongside American Regular gasoline, which was a leaded fuel. Lead free Amoco was introduced in the Indiana Standard marketing area in 1970." R-
I went and started it again with the valve cover off no knocking for about a minute then it started up again so im assuming i need to use a lead additive?
Depends on what your "knock" sounds like. Is a heavier "thump"? That would more likely be a main. Is it a lighter "knock?" A rod bearing. Gas "ping" is a higher, sharper sound usually always under load. A 6.5 compression ratio is not going to ping at idle without being very severely advanced. Forget the lead additive. Run it a while. Use good oil, if the sound doesn't get worse, don't worry about it. If it does, find a 235. Wrist pins can make noise too. As you rev it a little the oil pressure will increase and help quiet it.
Man It doesnt have a knock for about the first minute then it starts knockin. On the sound i guess its right in the middle sound wise not real heavy and not real light.
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