It appears that when a 195.6 OHV sits for a while the valves tend to stick. I had that happen on mine when it sat for 4-6 months over fall and winter one year. I believe it's just varnish that congeals over the time. To free them I've taken a hammer and block of wood and rapped the end of the valve pretty hard several times. Of course the rocker shaft was off. Then run some engine flush (or add a quart of diesel fuel to the oil -- that's the main ingredient of Gunk brand anyway) and run it for 20-30 minutes at idle. Don't drive it much with the thinned oil, if at all. As long as it's regularly driven, or not sitting for months at a time, it should be fine. That little 440H looks like it's going to be a great project car Tom! Twin-Stick too!! I'm very familiar with the 61-63 Americans -- drove one for 14 years and have fixed everything on one of the four or five total I've owned over the years at least twice!! -- Frank Swygert Publisher, "American Motors Cars" Magazine (AMC) For all AMC enthusiasts http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html (free download available!) _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list