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ahh so it's the valves then, good good. this is literally the farthest i have ever looked into a motor so bear with me

thanks for the info, got oil in them now hopefully it is an easy fix not sure I am up to major engine work!

Fuel not moving could be many things. If fuel pump is replaced and the lines are clear, then the next place to look would be the fuel tank. If it's original then there is a really good chance that it is full of rust and varnish. The fuel lines could also have pinhole leaks in them (check under the clips for the hardline along the frame) and the fuel pump will be sucking air. Anything on the suction side that allows air in will prevent the pump from pulling fuel. Also, it is going to take a while for the fuel pump to pull fuel anyways. But really, check the tank....if it's not clean then you are pulling crap into your fuel pump which will clog the screen.

Stuck valves are super common on cars that sit. It's not the end of the world. Worst case scenario if you can't get them loosened up then pull the head and deal with them then. Or have a mechanic do that.

Like Don said, soak the valves with oil over the course of a week or so. Marvel Mystery Oil has worked for me in the past. Also, remove the passenger tire, and then remove the access panel on the inner fender. From there you can see the valve covers on the side of the engine. Remove the road draft tube and the fuel pump heat shield. Then remove the valve covers. You'll be able to see each of the valves and will see some that are stuck into the up position. Spray the springs and valve stems with some sort of penetrating fluid. Give it plenty of time.

Once you are able to get the valves moving a bit, then get the engine to start. Use a clean source of fuel, not the fuel tank. If you can get the engine started it will run terribly for several minutes....keep it running by playing with the throttle. Once the engine warms up most of those stuck valves will likely release and the engine will smooth out and run well. Never use old fuel or fuel that isn't coming from a known clean source....otherwise you will gum up the valves again.

Here's a video of a stuck valve on my '54. You can hear and see that it ran terribly.


After doing the above work the valve freed up and the engine ran beautifully.


My brother in law's '52 had several stuck valves. We got them all freed up by doing the same procedure.

I started out basically the same as you. I had zero experience with old cars and have never done anything with engines. I had no idea how a carburetor worked, no idea how to work with drum brakes, no idea what a distributor was, etc. I learned as I went with the help of the fine folks on here and local guys in the car club. You can learn everything you need to know and have a great time doing it.

-Kevin

Got the valves loosened up, opening the side cover and spraying pb blaster moved them right along.
Now I am chasing down why there is no spark and managed to test my coil found it was good then sheared the stud off wiring it back up...

Never a dull moment with old cars. If you can't use the coil because of the broken stud a Napa Echlin IC7 is Napa's better version and works well but is almost twice the price of their lower cost IC7SB which is also a decent replacement.

Dwight Heinmuller also has 6V coils (link).

Double check everything with your distributor/timing. See Ross's video for an easy visual reference:


Cap, rotor, points, condenser. At least clean all the contacts on the cap/rotor, check and clean the points. At least get it started with what you have. Otherwise replace all those parts. Napa has those available, or just buy the tune up kit from Dwight linked above.

-Kevin

Sad thing is it was a brand new coil, I have replaced everything shy of the distributor and bothg points - I cleaned them up and put back in.
Ended up tracking it too the points opening not actually opening the connection too the coil but got in a motorcycle wreck the day i figured it out so be a bit before i can hop out and poke it again.
Already got a new set of points and another coil off brillman's.

felt well enough to poke it a few more times, got spark by redoing the points and adjusting both again.
but no start so checked compression after borrowing a tester and 3 of 8 cylinders had compression - mostly the ones the valves were stuck on.
aside from them not being fully freed up could the valves need to be adjusted? never had an engine that needed that before

Unless you have hydraulic lifters, then yes they will need to be adjusted. It's unlikely that the bottom of the line model for '51 had that equipped, but anything's possible. Ross has a video on that too.youtube.com/watch?v=L79ntnnzFHk

Too loose and you have excessive valvetrain noise and reduced performance. Too tight and you can burn your exhaust valves and also get poor performance.