I am in the process of making a test stand for engines and in particular a 1275 I have here as a spare. It has not been run for about 5 years. Turning over by hand I found there was no compression at all in any cylinder. A couple of squirts of penetrating oil gave compression on No2 but no others.
"Dont Panic Mr Mannering"
Cranking the engine gave compression on all cylinders, No3 is a tad low at 120 but the rest are all 150+.
The moral of the story is patience. Oil pressure next but thats for another day.

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Cheers Dave.

Oil should always be put down the bore and left to soak in. On top of that the valves might have been a bit stuck.

At least it wasn't a hand crank engine that's been sitting a lot longer, I've had that fun.


I was watching a video about a 90s Jaguar which came in for no compression. The bore material used means that if the engine is shut down when it's still cold, the mixture is rich enough that it will wash the oil from the bore instantly. The result is a loss of compression requiring oil to be poured into the cylinders to be able to start.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

My brother's 1965 Hillman Imp burnt an exhaust valve after 300,000 miles, he's had a reconditioned Imp GT motor in the shed for 30 years with the head not bolted down. . So we put it in this week.
It didn't have much compression when cranked by hand but was fine once started.
It's still running the hs2 SU off my 1961 850. Imp Solex carby with automatic choke was a POS.
Edit
Motor had been reconditioned, then barely run before dropping a valve.
Brother inherited the motor. Pistons are fine, we repaired the head.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

After last running the engine I put oil in the cylinders and turned over to distribute but it will drain back.
And when going for the first start remember to have the doors wide open as it will fill the shed with blue white smoke.

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Cheers Dave.