Starting a Long-Idle Engine

[twas brillig]

We've had the healey for over 40 years but only started driving it (sporadically) in the last five or eight. Did a compression/leak down test on it 18 years ago and all was good; did a compression test last week (one bad cylinder 60 psi) and a boroscope inspection friday. No piston or valve damage, but seemed to be a lot of scoring on the cylinder walls. We'll be looking at a rebuild (or sale some day with engine as is, with a headsup, as it runs okay). But! Why the scoring?
I'm guessing that the infrequent starting means that the cylinder walls would be truly dry and no lubrication. Thoughts? And if you store a vehicle and don't start it for - say - six months (we get winter and gravel on the roads in Calgary, and store it in a Car Capsule so can't really fire it up every two weeks), what should one do when summer doth come?
My thinking:
- for the first tank of gas in the warm weather, throw in some traditional two stroke motorcycle/small engine oil. Use the recommended ratio on the jug. Dunno how badly that'll smoke and pollute
- pull the plugs and squirt some (a tablespoon? (whatever that amounts to)) into each cylinder. Regular engine oil or the two stroke again?
- just generic: we've been doing very little mileage per year. Different folks change oil for different mileages (3000 miles? 5,000 miles?) but what is the general feeling as to the mileage that warrants an oil and filter change before parking it for the winter? If the car's had less than a thousand miles on it since the last change, I'd be inclined to leave it. But -are there any guidelines on this? Any purpose is just changing the filter?
thanks, Doug

 

[roscoe]

Although it won't cure serious engine wear issues (like scoring of cylinder walls) and is often tagged as "snake oil or worth it," you might try some Marvel Mystery Oil. Do your own research, but it can be added to your gas tank and will provide top-end lubrication of the sort that old/neglected
engines can benefit from. It is often touted as a top-end lubricant.

It isn't particularly expensive and has been around since the 1920s. It will circulate through the engine longer than a squirt or two into the cylinders if you use it that way. One thing I believe is that it does no harm. Use as directed.

 

[Brighton Bob]

I squirt a little engine oil into the cylinders in the fall after the last drive to protect the rings from seizing and again in the spring and crank it over with the plugs out to get oil pressure before firing up. My TR6 flat top pistons let the oil run down to the rings. Yes, it smokes when fired up so open the garage doors when it fires up drive it out. At each fill up I put 4oz of Marvel Mystery Oil in my 10-gallon gas tank to protect the valves, something guys I know with Flat Head V8's have been doing for year.