Hi Brad,
Ah wow, California - I'd die for the iron that you guys send to scrap! We salt the roads heavily here and even a late 70's car is very rare now. Body cancer sets in very quick, and because of the rarity, you pay huge $$ for anything that can be put on the road. Who in CA would believe a '71 Toyota would go for $12,000??
Is starting to sound like there's not much at all wrong with your truck. I think the guy you bought it from just didn't know. I wouldn't overly concern myself with a bit of oil on the plugs. The magazine publications that we all grew up with that "tought" us how to wrench, are in the biz of selling parts advertising and will convince you that everything must be a-1 to have a car/truck that won't self destruct at the stab of the pedal. The truth is, that if you tear down a chevy with 50000+ miles and look at it, you'll be convinced that it's dead by the measurements you take. In the real world there IS some scoring of the cylinder wall, the bearings ARE worn, there IS an ungodly ridge at the tops of the cylinders, and the piston skirts ARE scuffed. That engine also would have run for years if you hadn't torn it down! I just took apart an '80 400 V-8 that spent 20 years as a plow truck - still ran great, not a knock, and just the swish-swish sound of the bearings when you listened to it run with a stethoscope. Oh, but what a mess when I tore it down. Haven't miked it yet, but all the pistons had noticable wobble by hand in the bore, and a big honking ridge. It also would've run for ever. I often see S.B. chevy's with leaky valve seals - besides guide wear, the seals dry up fairly quickly. I'll bet at the most, your truck will give one puff of blue when you fire it, and clear up in seconds. It's probably fine. One bit of advice; If you've got a points ignition and aren't worried about keeping it original? Swap to an H.E.I. Unless I'm mistaken (anybody correct me if so please) it's a one 9/16 bolt, one wire swap that'll take under an hour, cost $20, and give you power, better emissions, idle, (especially if you are blowing oil) and reliability. You'll be happy you did it. P.S. as for oil on plugs - is the crankcase vent working properly?
Good Luck, Jim.
Now I hope sombody can help at my posting...
