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tubman · 10-03-2019, 02:08 PM

I had a '51 Merc that lived under the stairs in my shop for almost 20 years. When it came time to use it, I first determined if it would turn over by hand, When it did, I changed the oil and mounted it on my test stand and ran a compression test. When that looked good, I got it ready to start. I have a mechanical gauge on the stand. The one thing I remember is that it took a looooong time to get oil pressure. I think that all of the oil had drained down and the pump had lost it's prime. I'll bet it took about 2 minutes of cranking to start to get any oil pressure. When it registered, it came right up. I started the engine and it ran great and had 25 psi at hot idle and 55 psi at speed. I've had it in the car for three years now, and everything is still perfect.

In retrospect, I should have pressurized the oil gauge port, but I was in a hurry. No harm, no foul.

10-03-2019, 02:08 PM	#5
tubman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys Posts: 12,148	Re: Flathead Storage? I had a '51 Merc that lived under the stairs in my shop for almost 20 years. When it came time to use it, I first determined if it would turn over by hand, When it did, I changed the oil and mounted it on my test stand and ran a compression test. When that looked good, I got it ready to start. I have a mechanical gauge on the stand. The one thing I remember is that it took a looooong time to get oil pressure. I think that all of the oil had drained down and the pump had lost it's prime. I'll bet it took about 2 minutes of cranking to start to get any oil pressure. When it registered, it came right up. I started the engine and it ran great and had 25 psi at hot idle and 55 psi at speed. I've had it in the car for three years now, and everything is still perfect. In retrospect, I should have pressurized the oil gauge port, but I was in a hurry. No harm, no foul.