fuel saturated oil, think the rings/bearing are dead?

[kwitcherbitchin]

upon tear down of my dads etype i found somethings that concern me. the motor is still intact and im awaiting borrowing tools for compression/leekdown tests, but still.

the car was running very very rich, i blame the carbs, however all 6 plugs where covered in carbon. and the oil was full of fuel. im unsure how old the oil is but im thinking it might be a few years old. so the car might have been driven a good amount with fuel in the oil. while i understand it can get past rings that are not in need of replacement, my real concern is the connecting rod bearings. and i keep getting mixed ideas about the damage gasoline/(petrol...) can do to connecting rod bearings/wrist pins.


i will be rebuilding the zenith carbs, but im unsure about what to do about the engine, if i really should be putting rings and bearings in it or if i should just put it back together with fresh oil and see if it kills itself. obviously the results of the compression/leekdown test will have alot to do with my decision, but a good result of tests does not indicate the condition of the con-rod bearings ect.



car was also out of coolant..... theirs some in there somewhere but not visibal from the radiator and there is only traces in the bottom of the expansion tank. it has an upgraded cooling system with dual electric fans. so i hope it didnt get cooked.


pics:
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l301/ ... ?start=all

spark plug pics and more irreverent stuff

[sbs]

On the surface of it, the low coolant concerns me more than the fuel in the oil.

These engines are tough, and most of them have probably been run extremely rich for some part of their lives - many failure modes on these carbs lead to excess fuel - but they will keep on trucking.

However, most of these engines are also running around with significantly less performance than they came from the factory with. Their durability is a problem in that regard - stuff doesn't get fixed because the engine still runs.

The answer really depends on your goals, but given that you're working on a restoration, and given that the car appears to have been neglected mechanically, I'd sure go ahead and tear down and inspect it if budget allows. Let what you find determine whether it ends up as a freshening or a complete rebuild. Just be aware that odds are pretty good that you'll find enough bad things to lead to a full rebuild.