Sartiang an engine that has sat a long time

trackster · September 10, 2012, 11:06:54 AM

Bought a 39 Chevy sedan with a 216 CI 6 cylinder engine. Car has sat for about 30 years. Any suggestions for starting this without doing more damage would be appreciated. Thanks.

rooster · September 10, 2012, 03:04:25 PM

My son had a 49 chevy that was STUCK when we got it! We got it loose but not before we screwed the fiber gears up!

Hope yours is not stuck!

Not much help but I thought you should know about those gears, maybe your dont have that kind.

Good luck

wayne petty · September 10, 2012, 03:10:55 PM

the 216 is a Squirt oiler to the rods... no conversions for 216 motors as the cranks are hollowed out..

usually with babbeted rods... scoops on the rod bolts to catch the oil shot out by squirters in the pan... and scooped up there also..

you might want to turn the crank if there is a crank pulley central bolt.. rock the crank back and forth every 1/6 of a turn... to see if you feel any loose rods..

these also have a very fine removable screen on the oil pump pickup tube.. that might need to be cleaned...

if you drop the pan... please DO NOT BEND the tubes ...

do verify with a solvent tank pump that the nozzles do have equal flow if you take the pan down.. if one gets clogged it will wipe the motor out...

one last word of wisdom... if you drop the pump.. understand that like installing a distributer it has to line up to mate with the bottom of the distributer.. there is a tapered depression for the tapered tip bolt to center and hold it in position without crushing the housing into the oil pump shaft.. one shop i worked in lost a 216 when the inexperienced tech did not fully install the oil pump .. just shoved it up and used the tapered bolt to kinda hold it in place.. wiped out all the crank journals and the bearings before he noticed there was no oil pressure..

other will have more to say... i just don't think that cranking speed is enough to properly oil the rods after sitting for many years... so you probably want to

Arnold · September 11, 2012, 11:37:04 AM

If this was a "dime a dozen engine" my thoughts would be entirely different.
IF this was mine..or my feelings. I would not even crank it over. I would take it out,fill the cylinders and intake with penetrating oil and let it sit,then very gently and carefully take it apart. Maybe all that is required is a clean up,light hone,rings,bearings,gaskets. Maybe even re-use the rings and bearings if all is really well in there.
There are just too many little variables that can literally destroy an old engine that has been sitting for a very long period of time just by cranking it. True..while you may be able to just hit the key and away it goes. If something tiny destroys it..in seconds..or even a few thousand miles..that would be painful.
My .02

(I can elaborate further if you want)

GPster · September 11, 2012, 02:46:38 PM

Maybe if it's set for over 30 years the engine isn't the only thing that needs some movement. Just a thought from another stand point is maybe that engine has never seen detergent oil. That engine may have never seen the kind of care that some people might suggest you should give it to revive it. I suppose I'd pull the plugs and see if there is anything strange growing there. Might also look down the carb and if you think anythig went further down than that Maybe pull the carb and vacuum out the intake. You could leave the carb off. While you're there pull the valve cover. With not much oil pressure those old "Stove Bolts" didn't have much lubrication up top. Rocker arms would stick to the shaft and bend pushrods and not open valves or valves could stay open. Oil everything up there and make sure it still moves. You could leave the cover off for now. The exhaust will blow itself out but stangly there would have been one or two exhaust valves open and crawley things could have ventured in through them. I'd drain the oil and the oil filter pot if someone had put one on it. If there is water or any condensation in the oil it would settle to the bottom of the pan and would be the first thing the oil pump would try to throw at the crank. Another thought would be to over fill the crankcase when you put oil in it so that the rod throw on the crank can actually spin through oil when you manualy crank the engine over. Squirt some oil in the cylinders and manualy turn the engine over. Maybe a sixth of a turn like was suggested. Let it set for a while in each position so that the rod end and crank journal can let lubrication soak in. Put a squirt of oil in each cylinder and go for the next sixth turn and repeat. The oil that you over fill the crankcase with could probably be old drain oil (not from this engine if there was water in it) that's been filtered through a rag and run past a magnet. Then I'd drain it and throw it away and put the correct amount of 30W ND oil in the engine. Now my really "odd ball" suggestion. With the plugs still out pull this car sowly ( after 30 years there are probably no brakes) in the yard, driveway or some side street with something slow like a garden tractor That would give the rear end and transmission (you did check the oil in them too?) a chance to limber up too. With the car in high gear and riding the car's clutch the engine should spin faster than on the starter without any strain and probably enough to get the oil pump to do it's thing. Riding the clutch would give you an instant way to stop the rotation if needed. I'd sit down an think about how it went and maybe ask more questions before I'd try to make it a runner. GPster

wayne petty · September 11, 2012, 09:06:49 PM

i thought about the tow it around the block a few times...

i would do it.. but i would use EXTREME care... that i would NOT pop the clutch... to get the engine spinning.. i would let it spin slowly...

why.. i don't want you to snap the axles giving it a reverse twist that almost never happens to these rear ends under normal driving.. but i have seen a bunch of then snap axles when exposed to either a dropped clutch in reverse.. or a hard down shift..

perhaps even investing the 25 bucks in the oil pressure test kit... so you know what the mechanical pressure without looking at the dash board gauge... its probably correct but you never know..

you are going to need at least 500 RPM to build enough oil pressure and flow to fill the dip rails.. and have enough speed for the scoops to force it in...

i am almost sure that the pan is easily removed...
use a garden sprayer that you can hand pump with solvent in it to check the flow and direction of all the nozzles in the scoops.. be sure that you never swap a 235 dip rail pan.. they are deeper and the scoops don't reach.. also examine the scoops on the rod ends. that they are not cracked..

warning.. i seem to recall that the MAIN bearings in these are almost always backed by various layers of brass or steel shim stock..

lastly... i have not seen a DECENT quality SB rated non detergent oil in a LONG LONG TIME... the last non detergent oil i got a hold of.. looked like a chevron bottle.. but turned to almost solid jello in 3 weeks... i thought i had broken the oil pump and twisted the shaft off.. when i pulled the drain plug and found something that Heinz catchup people would be proud of. took all night to drain. . so use care.. you might want to use something with additional ZDDP.. like the joe gibbs oils..

there is just so much do to on this fine old motors..

just 2 more cents..

57larry · September 12, 2012, 04:20:44 PM

just pull it and drop in a 283

Crosley.In.AZ · September 12, 2012, 10:39:17 PM

Bolt in a full pressure fed crank shaft 235 cid inline 6 chevy into it. If you want the old look.

The 216 dipper rod engine, I would want to pre lube everything real well. Take the oil pan off , check stuff out

trackster · September 17, 2012, 03:01:16 PM

Thanks for all the info. Got some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders a couple days ago. Let it set for a while and turned the fan enough to see the crank was turning. Gonna drop the pan later as time permits. Removed the valve cover...............clean enough to eat off of!! I think we got a good one.

wayne petty · September 17, 2012, 04:22:29 PM

when you drop the pan.... you should be able to trim a large coffee can.. if they still exist to hang on the oil pump pickup...
so the screen is almost to the bottom... and nice thin oil is covering it.. perhaps half a quart... with the spark plugs out.. have somebody spin the motor for a few seconds... verify the old oil is out of the pump...

this is an optional thing to do.. there is a big squirt nozzle that the pan dipper manifold slips onto to verify thats open also.. this feeds all 6 shooters... i don't have a clue if there is some kind of O-ring or seal between the nozzle and the tube...

did i mention above about picking up a 10 buck or 15 buck one gallon pump type garden sprayer.. you can put solvent into that and us that to test the squirters... you will have to figure a way to remove the valve and use a piece of something like fuel line and vice grip pliers to shut the oil flow off by pinching the hose... while you pump the handle to build pressure...

if you have an old small or big block chevy oil pump.. you can also install that on a drilled bar.. with a tapped hole where the solvent can come through and spin the pump with a battery powered drill as a solvent pump ...