Rich;
I never heard of stale gas causing that problem and I don't see how it
could. What you described sounds more like the valve guides seizing up from
insufficient lubrication. A plugged oil galley could easily cause that
problem and quite a few things are more likely to cause that other then
stale gas.
The only way that gas could get up into the valve guide is if the guide was
worn out and the valve leaked, in which case fresh gas could do the very
same thing. Since you say that your engine ran fine before this incident I
would dismiss this idea . Even with very bad valves this would be a long
shot, in which case the engine would run badly beforehand, if it would run
at all.
One of the big culprits are modern motor oils containing detergents. The
detergent breaks down some old caked up stuff and before you know it you
have a plugged oil galley and a spun bearing or something else. This can
also happen on its own accord but is less likely if you use the non
detergent oil on a non rebuilt engine of that age. After a rebuild you can
use anything you want because the block has been boiled out by the machine
shop before they even touch it.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Taillight bezel and other trim parts
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rich Z." <RJZ123@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 5:58 PM
Subject: IML: sticky valves
> Hi all. I most certainly had sticky valves a few years ago when I
> bought a 60 Imperial and drove it with its stale gas !!! Boy did that
> teach me a lesson. It ran fine, but soon a couple of valves stuck and
> bent a few push rods. I thought I blew the engine !! I had to remove
> the heads and have them done. A totally unnecessary big job and
> expence. And it's easy to happen when we deal in old cars.
>
> '58 Plymouth - "Christine", '59 DeSoto, '60 Imperial cnvt, '60 Fury
> cnvt.
>
>
>
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