Thought I would post a picture of this. I picked this 351C up 25 years ago mostly because it had Power steering and AC on it. Yesterday I decided to drag it out of the shed and tear it down. I wish I had left it were it was. That goo is 1/4 inch thick everywhere.

 

Holy smacks!

So that's what happens to oil when left alone - it recycles itself back to dinosaur crude!

 

I'm guessing long term use of cheap non-detergent oil with possibly a healthy dose of STP every now and then. At least it's not going to rust any time soon.

 

OMG! just throw a quart of MMO in the next oil change. you will be fine.....

 

C'mon, it's basically just a darker version of assembly lube, right? Fire it up, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?!

 

well, at least you no there is no rust on the inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

when i was a engine rebuilder at a shop,back in the 80s seen alot of those gum up engines,stp everytime,good thing is it did keep the oil/sludge on every moving part,and when sitting for long periods would stop rust,if you would of fired that engine up and ran it for a few trips,almost certain it would of clogged up the suction screen on the pickup tube from the oil pump,

 

Thought I would finish this thread off with an update on this gooey Cleveland. Seems like from the date on the bearings it got freshened around 1987. The good news, nothing is rusty! The crank will clean up at .010. They must have replaced the timing chain cover back when you could get them from Ford because it's the best one I have ever mined out of a junk yard engine. The block has never been bored and would have cleaned up at .030 except #8 had two broken rings and has some bad gouges and probably will need a sleeve.
I thought I post a picture of one of the most overlooked and important parts of these external balanced engines. This balancer had not only slipped until the timing marks were nowhere near where they should have been but it on it's way to flying off.

 

My 351m I just tore down looked just like this, it also had about a pound of casting sand piled in the back passenger corner of the water jacket.

 

Don't bet on it. That goo will also trap condensation inside the engine. Looks like the PO was a firm believer in Quaker State oil.

 

give it out as licorace next halloween

 

Just wanted to yell at the TV one time a few years ago when on one of the usual strange excuse for a car show had some guys open up a Windsor that looked similar (but not as bad!) as the one here, and one of the "experts" (who really was experienced with engines) said out loud that "wow, that would have never happened to a Chevy engine." !!! and made me want to cringe at the thought of this guy educating masses of younger, or less experienced viewers out there into thinking that what he said was the truth.
Ugh...

Paul

 

Interesting note about the 351M block and casting sand. When I took my 351M with 400 crank apart several years ago it had a very similar mountain of casting sand in the passenger side rear water jacket. It was surprising how much there was.
I also hate ignorance promoted through "car experts" on the media. There are way too many errors on the air, in YouTube, and in magazines.
R.

 

Yeah, I wonder how many engines, differentials were ruined, and brake jobs botched from watching either incorrectly done YouTube videos, or someone doing the right thing to one product, then others taking that and assuming it was the same for theirs when it wasn't.

And boy, do I remember casting sand!
On a trip across the country in '70, our '67 Buick 430ci started to overheat in NV out of the blue. Checked and the coolant was full.
Heater on did the trick for a short time, but not really a reliable method (in the summer) for a happy trip. Pulled in to a radiator shop in (I think?) Winnemucca and they had us back on the road in about an hour.
First time I'd ever heard the term "rodded out" but the guy there said immediately "probably filled with junk and casting sand" so just went right in and took the tanks off. Sure enough, about 70% of the lower tubes in the core (and this is a BIG Buick-sized radiator by the way!) were completely blocked by casting sand buildup.

Never had that problem even once since then, but I've never forgotten it either. Fun times!

Paul