Restarting a 58 / Passenger side valve cover removal

["Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>]

Removal of the passenger side valve cover on the 58 is quite a task
involving the removal of the blower motor among other things.  A new set of
gaskets should be purchased before you start the job, and be careful not to
over tighten the bolts that hold it in place.

I am aware that there is the possibility of blocked ports for the oil from
the valve area.  I guess I have not been seeking out people who may have
experienced such a blockage.  The only experience I have is on my own and
they were fine.

If I understand the situation correctly, and I'm not saying I do, the big
concern is damage to the cylinder walls as the pistons begin moving up and
down without lubrication.  The pistons on the 392 have three rings.  I just
don't see how anything we've been talking about is going to ameliorate the
fact that for a few agonizing moments, the engine will be turning over
without sufficient lubrication in this area.  The valves, the springs, the
rocker arms and the rods will all be pretty much OK during this brief time.

I would not go to the trouble of removing the valve covers and putting oil
in there.  The key thing is to find out if the engine is free.  The best way
to do that is to use the starter motor with the plugs out as there will be
no compression to restrict the pistons and the oil pump will be engaged by
the rapid motion of the engine.  The Marvel oil will do some good, by some
of the pistons are going to be at the top of the travel and these are going
to be the least lubricated by it, and I cannot see a way to avoid that.

I know an old air force engineer.  He always said the worst thing you can do
to an engine is start it up, simply because in the first moments, the engine
is insufficiently lubricated.  I think he is wrong.  The worst thing you can
do is never start it at all.

If the engine is seized, its going to have to come out of there.  If it
isn't, then the simple steps of dumping out as much of the old oil before
replacing it with fresh, and flushing the motor's coolant channels is just a
bout all you can do that will make a worthwhile difference.

Once I got mine running, I made a point of running it as often as possible.
It went from being a noisy, smoky beast with enough lifter chatter to keep a
school's worth of gossips supplied for a month, to a quiet, smooth running
engine that made the most delightful noise a car enthusiast could wish to
hear.  Though we changed the oil pretty often, we did not take much care
with the coolant, which was an error.  After the water pump croaked and I
finally did flush the engine I was truly shocked at what came out.  I was
sure the engine was ruined.  To my delight, however, it wasn't, but it sure
ran a whole lot cooler without all that crud in there.  On the second flush,
we got out a whole lot more junk, but appreciably better than the first
time.

Hugh