Nza wrote:

> I recently pulled my uncle's 1949 chrysler Royal out of storage. It
> was sitting for 27 years in the garage... anyway, aside from the
> wiring being totally useless and in need of replacement, the only
> problem i have is the engine has no compression. I have put marvel
> mystery, motor oil, even a little gear oil down the cylinders, but no
> return of the compression.
>
> This has the flathead "spitfire" 6 cylinder engine. It spins over
> freely... way too freely.
>
> Anyone have a method i might not have considered? I'm willing to try
> a lot of things before i pull the engine from the car... i'm hoping to
> at least get it running before I have to do that. The thing only has
> 92,000 original miles on it.
>

Mopar flatheads tend to get very sticky valves when parked for a long
time, and they have pretty light valve springs so the valves may stick
open when you crank the engine after a long period of sitting. You can
drown all the cylinders in marvel mystery oil, rotate the engine by hand
a few times (with the plugs out) and then let it soak on the valve stem
seals for a week or so, then crank it over (still with the plugs out) to
clear the oil and then test compression.

But after 27 years, it could be too much for mystery oil to un-stick,
and it could also be that the rings are completely shot from scraping on
surface-rusted cylinder walls.