Hello All,

This is my first post and thanks to Ted for allowing me to register. I am coming from the Model A side of the house but I just bought an all original (32K) Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 and 3 spd with O/D. Here is what I am up against:
-Not started in about 40 years
-Looks to be all original (I know how that sounds)
-The heads are ALL gunked up with solid oil sludge
-Used the starter to crank the engine over and watched the driver side bank moving, the passenger I could see most of them move.

My question is this: what is the best way to wake up the engine? I would prefer to not have to pull it (I can though), how do I clean the gunk out of the heads and the valve galley-besides scraping? What about the freeze plugs? I have two years to get her on the road as an occasional driver. Any thoughts and ideas are welcome. I am just trying to keep an original engine as original as possible but if the heads have to come of then so be it. I will post pics from my phone.

Thank you,

Mike

Unfortunately, it would have been a good idea to have done some prep on the engine,before you cranked it over..  Did you drain the crankcase & put some fresh oil in it?.  And squirting some light oil in the cylinders & leaving it for a while & then oiling  the rocker assemblys would have been a good idea etc. You may have done more damage to the engine by just forcing it to turn..   


Paul

That's a nice engine.  I bought a 40K 272 out of a station wagon that had been sitting outside for 20 years myself.  If it were mine, I would pull it out and tear it down. You will never get all that sludge out of the motor and I suspect the oil passages to the heads are clogged and the oil pan is a mess.   Depending upon the cylinder walls, you may get away with a hone job, rings and bearings.  When you're done, you will have a nice motor.  With a 312, the trans is probably a T85.  Wish I had it. 

If the engine has a good amount of sludge, then that sludge breaking up and stopping up the oil screen is a real possibility.  In the case of sludge, just pulling the engine and tearing it down for a good clean up is recommended.  In a best case scenario, all you will be out is the price of a gasket set.  In a more worse scenario, you’ll find that you were glad you pulled the engine down as more serious problems were found.  Even if you get it running without an engine tear down, there’s a good chance that running the engine will make for worse problems than if addressing them head on.  Removing the intake manifold and then the valley cover will give another idea on how badly an engine has a sludge buildup.
  
While not a fan of just cranking up engines that have napped for several years, if they turn over then maybe there is hope for them.
 
Before attempting to start the engine, it would be prudent to remove the spark plugs and examine each cylinder with bore scope.  Assuming no serious rust or mice; they do crawl up the exhaust and find an open exhaust valve.  Put a small amount of oil (ATF works good for this) in each cylinder and pressurize with air.  Test that the engine will turn over either with the starter or a break over wrench on the damper bolt.  Turn it only enough that you can confirm that the engine is not stuck. 
 
Then drain the oil and replace the filter.  With the distributor removed, prelube the engine.  With the valve covers off, insure that oil is coming out of the rockers on both banks.  Feel free to tap on each rocker to insure that the valves are free and coming back up.  If the valves go down and stay down, plan on pulling at least the heads.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

pull the engine out and dismantle, other wise it will be a disaster.i agree with others and you  likely need a gasket kit, cam will be bad as poor Lub to rockers, sounds like a jewel,esp if it is a 312

There was a reason the car was parked 40 years ago.  What was the issue?  Better to be safe and get a fresh build-up of that engine, carb, ignition system, fuel system/brake system before even thinking of driving the vehicle.  JMO, but even the shocks, tires, all rubber grommets, etc., need a refurbish after 40 years even if it was in a heated garage.  Joe-JDC

JDC

Update: car fell through due to title issues. So off to the next one. Thank you all for your advice in the matter.

Mike

That’s too bad about title problems stopping progress with that particular car.  Can you elaborate as to what those problems were?
 
Here’s the rear main of an engine that was rebuilt 35 years ago but not used.  It had been stored in a dry garage all this time and came into the shop to be checked out before installing it in a vehicle.  Having the engine looked at was a good call by the person who now owns the engine.  Had the engine been run, it would have simply self destructed in a short period of time.
 

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Where is the car? I'd be interested in it if possible. Thanks for your reply.