stuck piston ring?

[1969CoronetR/T]

I took my Coronet out of storage and was driving it home when I noticed it was smoking and I could smell burning oil after I drove about a half hour. I took it to my friends shop and the breather tube was spitting oil out and it was hitting the manifold. The mechanic thinks it is a stuck piston ring and dumped Sea Foam into the crankcase which did semm to help. Should I do a compression test or check the sparkplugs to determine if the ring is beyond repair or just carbon builup? I really do not want to tear the engine apart until after summer and I am hoping someone knows a trick or two to 'unstick' a piston ring,
Thanks,
Mark

 

[sicksatellite]

some ATF in the cylinder works sometimes

 

[Pistol Pete]

I've had luck removing carbon with some marine products such as this:

http://shop.catalinaowners.com/prod.php?11814/Marine+Engine+Tune+Up+%26amp%3B+Decarbonizer

 

[sicksatellite]

or some diesel

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

Should I just pour the product into the spark plug holes so that it goes into the cylinder? I drove it up to my brother-in-laws restuarant last night and my wife and kids followed me. She did not see any smoke from the tailpipes and it did not smoke from the engine,
Thanks again,
Mark

 

[Cranky]

Sounds like the problem has stopped. How many miles are on this engine and what did you do to it when you put it in storage?

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

This is the second winter that I had it and I just put fuel stabilizer in it. I took it out and would run it every few weeks depending on the snow. I do not know how many miles are on it as the engine is from a 1969-1970 New Yorker that the guy put in the early 1990's. I would like to put a Muscle Motors engine in it a few years down the road as I just had my 1971 Demon 340 strkoed to a 416 and the extra money is gone.

 

[Cranky]

Well, if it seems to be running well now, I would go and do a compression test just to see what kind of health it's in. A 69 Chrysler engine is 10-1 and a 70 engine is 9.7-1. Both should put up decent numbers still if in good shape but it will be lower if someone has ever had the heads off and went back with composition gaskets. Stockers came with a steel shim head gasket and that isn't hard to check. A steel shim is right around .020 thick and the comps are .040

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

Thanks for the help Cranky. I will have it tested to determine if it is in good condition. I was quoted $1,500 to rebuild the 340 in my Demon (I went all out and stroked it with ported heads) and I am wondering if a 440 would be about the same to rebuild?

 

[Pistol Pete]

When you do a compression check, what's more important than the actual numbers is the disparity between the numbers. This will help either identify or verify a problem cylinder. In either event, I'd still run a good top end cleaner to loosen the carbon buildup.

 

[FatJack]

Sounds like it just needs to be driven. Take it out and enjoy it.

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

Well, the ring must have set itself as the problem has not returned the last few days. I had it up to 6,000 RPM without smoking oil, miss or other problems. There is a nice stretch of road (six lane highway) near my house where you can see for a mile or so for police and I must have been going 90 mph and along comes a Volvo stationwagon(AKA a crossssover) beside wanting to race. I put the pedal down and left him in my rearview mirror. Thanks for all the help and advice,
Mark