RobAr

Quick story to share. I started "resurrecting" Penelope two year ago. Fired her up in June, 2014 after 30 years in storage (I've owned her since '67) and she started right up, but things have proceeded in fits and starts since. Money accounts for some of this, but life in general just gets in the way of spending significant time on the project. Anyway, after rebuilding brakes (with a friend's help) throughout, and actually licensing her for the first time in 30 years, I was working on floor cancer and a new gas tank (used a modern fuel cell rather than trying to resurrect gummed up old tank) Penelope suddenly developed a knock - bad enough that I didn't want to run for fear of doing real damage. Had several friends check her out and everybody had a different take, so the project went back on hold back in June. She's been sitting on blocks in the garage since then. Finally, with winter layoff and cold weather precluding outside work I fired her up and listened again. After listening with a scope at different places and doing a full rebuild on the carb to address hard starting I came back to this forum and Youtube. Bottom line was I decided the most likely culprit was a stuck valve. Before tearing the head off, I decided to try a couple other options. Based on Youtube testimonials, forum posts and friends' advice here's how it went; 1) Bought a can of Seafoam and dug up a liter of ATF I had kicking around along with a liter of warm water. 2) Started the car and warmed her up (it was -15C or so), then fed the following down the carb snout while maintaining idle and occasional throttle goosing to clear the pipes. In rotation, I used Seafoam, ATF, then water. Probably 6 full cycles of this over half hour period, using a full can of Seafoam and a liter each of ATF and water. 3) After about 15 minutes, there was a sudden clack and rattle from the depths of the engine, and I thought it was going to stall. Figured I had really done a number on her. But then she smoothed out and just started to purr! The knock was still there - but I have to listen really hard to just sense it below the natural rhythm of the engine. My guess is that carbon deposits causing the hanging valve (or whatever) had broken loose and chewed their way through. There are probably remnants at the problem site and this is what I can still faintly hear, but basically, the engine is back running smoothly enough that I'm motivated to get back on the cleanup (replacing cracked wiring and such) and cosmetic aspects of the project (gutted interior because mice had destroyed it). 4) Ran the engine for another hour following this treatment. No smoke, no blowby, idling along as is nice as you please. Penelope's on track again to make it into the July 1st parade in my small town where I first drove her fifty years ago (summer between grade 11 and 12). Bottom line? Hard to tell if it was the Seafoam, the ATF or the water, but the combination seems to have done the job - and saved me the time and money for a top-end job. More time and money to spend on the million other things I need to do before Penelope's back fully "road-ready".

I bought "Penelope" ('51 Plymouth Cambridge) in the spring of '67, drove her through grade 12, then college, resurrected her the first time in '78 and drove her until '85, when I took a 1-year posting to Tripoli. Parked her "for the winter" in my parents back yard. In quick home visits over the next few years she bounced around to various neighbours' garages, then went on blocks permanently in the summer of '92. I came home to Canada in 2011, and have inched toward relaunching "the Penelope Project" ever since. Fired her up last summer but got stalled on brakes. Those are done now, so the project is back on the rails. I'll be looking for suggestions and advice over the next while.