I did get some Marvel Mystery oil and plan on doing that to take a break from this splas pan and oil pan removal. If everything goes well with this startup then I will have a decision to make as to what to do from there. keep it bone stock and "revive" it, or have some point of reference for someone else to dig deeper if I decide to sell it. I would love to keep the engine, just not super hip on the suspension, transmission, and rearend! haha

 

I highly suspect you are right. Only flatty I've ever been into was a V-8. What a nasty mess. I miss a lot of quality things from the old days. Motor oil is not among them. Only way to do it truly right is take it to a machine shop and give them $4000+. I think his approach is logical. Make sure it has a chance at some oil pressure. Do what he can to free the rings, and let the chips fall. Good chance it uses oil if it lives. I could live with that to have an old flatty on the cheap.

 

I can verify that the valve chambers on the flat 6 are a hiding place for sludge. They are accessible now more than ever, and cleaning them out will help to keep your valves moving when she runs again.

 

What process would I do to get the sludge out of the valve chambers?

 

Break out the nitrile gloves, rags, and mineral spirits - start cleaning away. Make sure your crankcase holes are not plugged and same for the holes that connect each chamber. The bottom plates come out so clean those also. $100 days it's never been cleaned and the nastiest plAce in your truck.

 

$100 says......

 

I am still learning and waiting for my manual. I have never gotten into an engine before... Ever! So after I remove the splash pan, and the oil pan, am I just looking straight up to the valves and cleaning or does it require removal of parts to get to? Sorry for dumb questions, but... I'm dumb! Lol

 

You aren't dumb. You are just inexperienced. You can't access the valves from the oil pan. I suggest you clean the oil pan and oil pump screen. Lube the cylinders and give it a shot. If you get too deep in disassembly you could run into siezed fasteners or other complications. That can be a serious obstacle for a brand new mechanic. There will be time to address other issues later after you determine if the engine has a chance.

 

Last night I squirted that oil in the spark plug holes. It spun previous to the oil, and spun even easier after I added it. I think I will take fatfenders advise on this one. I'll take the pan off, clean as much as I can with getting too crazy an go from there. Hopefully once that hidden oil heats up, it cleans itself out a little when it starts to run... Hopefully

 

It will very gradually break free from modern detergent oil. Your new oil will be black in a matter of minutes. The only way to get it truly clean is to completely disassemble the engine and hot tank it at a machine shop. If the engine has compression and the bearing clearances are reasonable it might be fine for along while. Only one way to find out.

 

I got the oil pan off, scraped, and cleaned. I have my fuel line set up, fan/crank spins smoothly, oil pump screen clean, have my 4-5 quarts of oil in it, and I got a 6v battery charger ready instead of battery, so now one last question before trying to turn it over. Do I need to prime the oil pump? I figure for the first go around I would unhook the coil and remove the plugs to check compression. I just want to make sure no damage can be done before priming. Also what compression should I be looking for on the first go?

 

I wouldn't bother with the compression check. Turning it over a few times with the coil unhooked is a good idea to get oil around everywhere before putting a load on everything. Watch the oil pressure gauge to see if it moves, if you have power to the gauges. (If not, then disregard) Give it 10 seconds or so of cranking (don't burn up the starter), then plug in the coil and give it a go.

 

A battery charger, unless it's a really big one like gas stations use, isn't going to spin the engine. It takes ~300 amps minimum, this time of year more likely 450.

 

So if that isn't enough would it be better to use a battery with ground to the starter and hot to the frame? It is a charger on wheels, not the little box type

 

Are all of your connections and cables sound? And good deal on the battery charger. It may not turn it over on its own, but it will be a good assist and recover fast. And as 52merc said be patient and keep the starter cranking time down or you'll be buying a starter before you proceed. May need one before it's over but no sense burning it up if it happens to have a year left in it.