PSA: My $600 '51 Ford sat in a barn near Abilene for 30 years and I had it running in 4 hours
Poured Marvel Mystery Oil down the cylinders on a Saturday, let it sit overnight, and it fired up Sunday with fresh gas and a new battery. What's the longest a motor sat before you got it to turn over?
Marvel Mystery Oil down the cylinders helps, sure, but it's not what actually got that motor spinning. The real hero was probably that it sat in a barn in west Texas, where the air is dry as a bone. Rust needs moisture to lock a motor up, and a barn near Abilene barely has any. You stick that same flathead V8 in a shed in Louisiana or up in Michigan for 30 years and it's gonna be a boat anchor no matter how much oil you pour in. I've pulled motors that sat half that long and had to yank the heads just to beat the pistons loose with a block of wood. So 30 years is impressive, but the dry climate did most of the work for you.