Well, well, well. It turns out that when mice have been living in your exhaust system for almost 60 years, they leave a lot of stuff in there. It is a miracle they never moved into the manifold or a cylinder with an open valve.
The engine was lightly stuck but I was able to free it with a pry bar on the starter ring gear. I turned it a full turn after adding some ATF and acetone to each cylinder. The starter turned it easily with the plugs out. I had also bounced each valve with a dead blow hammer before I tried to turn the engine.
Once I had checked the boxes and hit the starter, I got a sputter pretty quick. I thought I was about to go for a ride. That was Sunday. I didn't work on it much yesterday or this morning. Monday, Tuesday and this afternoon were spent chasing a problem that I think I should have caught onto much sooner.
As soon as I disconnected the exhaust pipe, it started and continued to run.
Thanks for all the input.
Mike
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