"new" MkIV 1300 engine

[Clive]

How about experimenting with the storage oil, specifically the  congealed stuff.
Will it dissolve in warm engine oil?
As long as the oilways are not blocked, running the engine up to temp with some cheap oil may be all that is required. The heat and flow should clean everything, or add some engine flush. (or half a pint of diesel to the oil)

[efp]

Colin, it looks and smells like regular oil, just darker and much thicker. Someone earlier mentioned these gold seal engines were bench run for a while after rebuilding so I’m guessing it was filled with regular oil then, rather than it being some preservative stuff. Probably explains why it came with plugs fitted too.

Wish I’d kept the oil I drained out of it for testing now, but there may be a bit more drained into the sump now that I can play with re disolvability.   Good call on the engine flush and/or diesel Clive, I’ll experiment with those.

It’s the first few minutes of running I’m concerned about, especially on the cam, and while I could of course dismantle it down to assembly lube them first, I’d prefer not to unless you guys think it necessary.