[ihc] Re: Maybe the End to My Wartime Motor :(

[Colin M Rush <salmineo@xxxxxxxx>]

I knew a fellow once back in the mid-80s when I used to be with the
Vintage Chevrolet Club who had an early-60s Chev sedan with a small
block.  One day he showed up with a dent in his hood.  Funny thing was,
the dent was made from below the hood.  We asked what was up, and he said
that he started it one day, and drove it, and was at a light when "BANG",
and he freezes, and lets it sink in that it was his car that made that
sound.  The car was not running.  He started it it back up, and went
immediately home.  He looked under the hood, and noticed nothing
immediately wrong.  He then noticed the oil cap was gone, and then
noticed the dent was directly above the oil fill tube (older Chev V8s had
a fill tube on the front of the manifold instead of on the valve cover). 
He checked the oil, and it was overfull, and smelled like gasoline.  He
could not figure out why the oil was so full and thin and gassy.  He
eventually surmised, and was backed up by some of the old-timers he
talked to, that fuel was washing down past the rings into the crankcase
when the motor was off.  He traced it back to a leaky carbureter, which
he fixed.  The tainted oil went away after an oil change, but he still
had a dent in his pretty car.

<snip>
Get her home and park her. I see oil leaking down the back of the oil
pan. After investigation, I smell and find that  it is not just oil. As I
figured, but was too dumb to check, I had gas in my oil. Pull the
dipstick
and there is 2" over the FULL line. She sat all night until this morning,
when I pulled the plug. Walked over to the job and put in a few hours,
came
home and removed the oil pan.
<snip>

I remember in my 1941 Chev owner manual that it recommended using
kerosene in place of oil when the temperature got cold enough.  Oil being
so much better today, I wonder if this is still something that is done,
as kerosene does not have all of the additives in it (detergents,
anti-foaming agents, and whatnot) that modern motor oil does.  If it was
cold enough when it happened, or if the motor never got too warm, I would
think the Hercules should be okay, being of the same vintage as the
wartime Stovebolt Sixes.

<snip>
> We use it some times to cut the diesel in cold weather to keep it from
> gelling.
- ---When I first bought the Scout I was a little frightened when I
drained
the oil. It smelt suspisciously like gasoline, but I was assured that it
wasn't. The PO told me that his father used to add kerosene to the oil
for
the winters, and the oil had not been changed since before he passed
away.
The PO was going to restore the body, so he never bothered with the oil.
- ---It is a common practice and suggested in the owner's manual when
harsh
winters are common. There were pretty harsh winters up in Michigan, so
after
finding the suggestion in the owner's manual, I didn't pay any mind to
the
smell the next time I changed oil. The smell was gone after the third oil
change, so I am assuming it will take about 3 before I get all the gas
out
of my crankcase. I just won't wait until 3000 miles to change oil this
next
few intervals, but I do see maybe a quart of heavy synthetic added after
this next drain. 
<snip>

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