1953 new smoking habit

[Jim Govoni CLC 20546]

Hello; My 53 has been in restoration almost 2 years. It has been run infrequently, just to move around the shop. Upon return the oil looked horrible,very dirty,old smelling. It went in with fresh oil. I opened up the drain plug with the oil cold, the car isn't done yet and moving to a new shop. I let it drain about a week, changed out the filter cartridge. I replaced the oil with straight 30W and 32 ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil. It took me a while to get it started with 4 gals of fresh gas and hooking up stuff just enough to keep it running. It took about 5 tries, to get the fuel into the carb but it started pretty well. After about 3-5 mins, the oil warmed up and it started tapping so I turned it off and added more oil to bring it up to the middle of the full area. Letting her run she smoked a lot intermittently. I ran it about a half hour in total and the smoke never cleared up. The engine has an unverified 39K miles on it. Any suggestions? I can't take it on the road until probably August to get her up to speed any length of time. Many thanks, Jim

[Mike Welch]

Might have some stuck rings.
Along with some sticking lifters.

[35-709]

Right.  Guess you'll have to wait until August, sounds to me like that engine needs to be RUN.

[Jim Govoni 20546]

Thanks Gents, guess it seems temporary?

[Mike Welch]

It may or may not be. Only time would tell. In the mean time id run it about once or twice a week.

[walt #23510]

Jim,
  Have you pulled any spark plugs to see which cylinder/cylinders are burning the oil? I like Mike's theory of stuck rings.Before I address the rings,I must comment about starting a motor just to move the car a short distance.The rich mixture will dilute the oil and wash your cylinder walls down.Another important point is the oil that was previously used in the motor.Some oils just don't mix well with others.One should try to run the same oil that was previously used in the motor.Another point to consider is ring tension.(53 yr old rings)The use of Mystery oil was a good thing to try.
  Once I bought a motor from another mechanic that was low miles and had been babied.Before installing in my car,I poured 5quarts of"my"oil into it.Well,the motor ran fine...at least for a short time.While sitting at a stop light one day,I looked into my rear view mirror but really couldn't see anything due to the fact that there was SO MUCH smoke!As fast as the smoke appeared,it went away!This continued until I finally drained my oil out and put his brand in.(I did fill the cylinders overnight with WD-40,then forced out by cranking the motor with plugs out)The motor NEVER smoked again.My theory is stuck rings.Another mechanic friend of mine saw a vintage car started up and moved just a short distance before killing resulted in a"locked up"motor when Spring came!(rings apparently rusted to cylinder walls)...send me a report when you finally fix your problem...walt     

[P W Allen CLC# 20193]

Jim,

I may be a good time to pull the oil pan down and clean out the sludge. I was amazed to see how much there was in mine. While your at it, you can clean the oil pick-up screen and replace the timing chain cover gasket and the front seal. Believe it or not, in those days, Cadillac recommended cleaning out the oil pan every year!

Paul

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

And, whilst cleaning the timing cover, and replacing the Gasket, check the condition of the Timing Chain and replace if necessary.

Small insurance.

Bruce,
'60 CDV
#18992

[jim govoni 20546]

Hi Paul; I got the gasket ready to do that but was stymied by the instructions in the maual. Do I just unbolt the starter and move it onto the frame? What and where is the other part they say to unbolt as well? Lying underneath the car is the the item bolted to the frame on your left?  Thanks,   Jim




Jim,

I may be a good time to pull the oil pan down and clean out the sludge. I was amazed to see how much there was in mine. While your at it, you can clean the oil pick-up screen and replace the timing chain cover gasket and the front seal. Believe it or not, in those days, Cadillac recommended cleaning out the oil pan every year!

Paul

[P W Allen CLC# 20193]

Jim,

Yes, just move the starter out of the way, or just remove it. (make SURE you disconnect the battery) The other thing is the Idler Arm. Remove the two bolts holding it to the frame. This allows you to swing the steering linkage down out of the way. You can't get the pan down if you don't. You must also remove the Water Pump and the Timing Chain cover before you can drop the pan. Of course, this all means that the radiator has to come out too. Your going to need the room to get the Harmonic Balancer off. Once the balancer is off, you can get the front Timing Chain cover off and inspect the chain. It should be OK if the mileage on your car is accurate (39,000 miles). There is a felt oil seal in the front cover where the balancer goes through. Replace it. Check the balancer where it rides on the seal. Mine was worn quite a bit, so I replaced it. (USA Parts Supply)  You don't want to go through all this and come up with a front seal leak. I'm going to attempt to attatch a pic of my worn balancer to show you what I mean. Good Luck!

Paul

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Might have some stuck rings.
Along with some sticking lifters.

You don't say if the engine was rebuilt or not.  What I would try is to remove the plugs,
put about 1/4 cup Marver Mystery Oil down into each cylinder, replace the plugs, then
turn it over (disconnect the coil lead so it doesn't start) -- then let it sit for about a week. 
It would be a good idea to also remove the oil pan, scrape out any crud and replace the
oil pan gasket before restarting.

Then, change the oil and filter and start it up and let it warm up to temp. 

Hopefully, your problem will be solved.  Sounds like an accumlation of crud and maybe
stuck rings.  Mike