<VV> ran when parked engine comp. test

[J R Read]

You would be surprised at what can be brought back to life without being 
opened up.  Takes a mixture of determination, patience, turning (once 
loose - not a problem here), your favorite concoction of MMO, LW, ATF, 
whatever, maybe even rotation (over time) of the entire engine on the stand. 
Did I mention patience?

Once things are feeling free by hand turning, you can start thinking about 
actually running it.  Be prepared for LOTS of smoke for several minutes.  It 
is not DOA unless you decide that it is - but it might be an oil 
burner/pusher for a while.  A compression test AFTER it is made to run will 
tell you something - a hell of a lot more than the one you did in your 
"test".

Later, JR


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ramon Rodriguez III" <corvairgrymm at gmail.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 12:37 AM
Subject: <VV> ran when parked engine comp. test


> Greetings all,
>
>     I recently acquired a Corvair engine that "ran when parked"...  I know
> this is a phrase that sends shivers down the spines of many of you, but up
> till now I've had very good luck.  I decided to do a compression test so I
> knew what I had.  The first surprise was that it was completely empty of
> oil.  I added oil, removed the distributor, and used my broken
> screwdriver/drill setup to run the oil pump.  After only a few seconds oil
> started pouring out of the engine... I think maybe from the oil cooler?
> Regardless... oil system integrity was badly compromised.
>
>     Since I was unable to generate decent oil pressure I decided I'd only
> test two cylinders to keep cranking time to an absolute minimum... one on
> each head.  Cylinder #1 showed ZERO (and sounded like it too).  Cylinder 
> #2
> showed 55-60psi.
>
>     It just occurred to me that maybe the very disappointing results were
> caused by the lifters being dry, would that cause readings this out of
> whack?  Fortunately I don't need to have this engine ready to run in a big
> hurry, it's near the bottom of the "to do" list currently.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- 
> Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez
> Lake Ariel, PA