Okay...this is the story. I pulled the tank and it wasn't pretty . The pick-up was totally covered in goo . The tank itself is shot . I was able to clean it out fairly well , but I know the sides of the tank are covered with rust and deposits from the bad fuel .
Seeing as to how a new tank can't be found , I had no choice but to reinstall the old one . I've installed filters before the pump and after . So with 8 more gallons of fresh fuel and a quart of mystery oil the engine is running again . And...the valves are no longer sticking !
This crud that was in the tank was some nasty stuff . It was hard to clean off of the tools being used . I can see how it could have been getting on the valve stems , drying , and acting like glue . The # 6 intake valve had enough of this stuff on it that when I was able to get it to move it stayed down . Not good . I tapped and played around with that valve for a half an hour and it wasn't coming back up . As a last ditch attempt to free it , I did something I really didn't want to do . I placed heat on the head around the base of the valve spring . I was lucky . The valve broke free real quick . Once the engine was started it ran on maybe 4 then 5 and finally all 6 . It was allowed to run for a couple of hours and its been fine ever since . It sat for 2 days and I took a real chance by starting it without checking for stuck valves . No choke , no throttle just turned the key and it was running !
So I have to think that all of the crap in the tank was setting up like cement on the valve stems .
Hope all of this is of some help to someone in the same position.
I have pictures of the fuel pick-up , but being an old guy I don't know how to attach them .lol Anyone know a 10 year old kid that can explain it to me ?
