Posted by vince on July 18, 2000 at 22:51:27:
In Reply to: Detergent Vs. Non-Detergent oil after dropping pan posted by Drew on July 18, 2000 at 17:26:22:
Seeing as how I discovered that my '41 WC makes oil pressure after sitting for God knows how many years (gonna start it soon...), I'll throw in one point I discovered with old cars that have seen a harsh life...
While you've got the pan off, feel free to use a spray bottle of paint thinner and a toothbrush or gun cleaning brushes to clean what engine parts you can reach that need cleaning of gunk. Extra paint thinner will run down and out the bottom of the engine or evaporate.
Of course, you'll make a mess, and you'll use up lots of dirty old rags, but the inside of your engine will be clean!
Just try explaining this to your wife/girlfriend...
Another thing that friends of mine and I have found is that with an engine that has been sitting for a long time or has not been driven much, a good long trip does wonders to make the engine sort of reseat itself and burn out lots of old corrosion, scum, etc.
Of course, frequent oil/filter changes make a difference, too.
Hope some of this helps,
vince