Crusty on the outside new on the inside?

[daniels]

Hi guys,A while back i bought this late 70's 360 to swap out with the 318 in my Duster.
The guy i bought it from said that his uncle had bought the car it was in new but took the motor out right away and put a diesel in it. And that the 360 just sat in the corner of his garage for a few decades.
Then at some point another uncle of his bought the motor did some mods to it and put it in his International Scout. He said that the Scout had loads of power and could do 4 wheel burnouts with 38" tires. But the guy took it out and put a diesel in the Scout to get better milege for his glacier trips. He said that it had less then 4000 miles on it from new.

On the outside it looks like it was pulled of the bottom of the sea but on the inside it's pretty damn clean.
So what do you guys think? Could this thing only have 4000miles on it? And is that a flat tappet cam i am seeing there?
And the valve springs seem to have gold stripes painted on them is that something special?

 

[65 Dartman]

It doesn't take too long to get an engine dirty on the outside sitting in a garage or in use either. As clean as it looks on the inside, it just might have the mileage you described.

 

[nm9stheham]

As above. In Iceland, 4000 miles seems like a lot of miles! And yes on the flat tappets; looks like hydraulics. The grey color in the oil inside may be an indication of moisture, but it could have gotten in there when running.

If you don't want to pull the heads, put some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders, and after the MMO sets for a few hours or a day, turn it over by hand slowly to see if it turns smoothly. It is not as good as pulling the heads and inspecting the bores, but may tell you if it is locked up or a cylinder is really rough with rust.

 

[daniels]

As above. In Iceland, 4000 miles seems like a lot of miles! And yes on the flat tappets; looks like hydraulics. The grey color in the oil inside may be an indication of moisture, but it could have gotten in there when running.

If you don't want to pull the heads, put some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders, and after the MMO sets for a few hours or a day, turn it over by hand slowly to see if it turns smoothly. It is not as good as pulling the heads and inspecting the bores, but may tell you if it is locked up or a cylinder is really rough with rust.

Thanks for the advice but i already turned it over, I didn't put any MMO in it or any thing and it turned over nice and smooth no binding at all.
If this thing really has less than 4000 miles on it that would be pretty amazing since all these old v8 motors usually get used in the big trucks here and get totally worn out.

 

[chryslerfat]

As clean as it is I would believe the mileage.

 

[stixx]

When the oil was changed regularly it could have way more than just 4000 miles.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Cam lobes look pretty minty to me. Little to no varnish on the lifters.No sign of oil cooking.
Looks like a nice score!

 

[MOA]

Run it.