Marvel Mystery Oil for Your Classic Car
You’ve probably seen it in the automotive stores, the red bottle with the nostalgic looking label. But who would ever think of using an oil and fuel additive called “Marvel Mystery Oil” in your precious older car. Well, we do. For some, MMO is a mystery, but to many others, it’s a marvel.
Marvel Mystery Oil claims it “combats internal motor rust and corrosion, lubricates valves, piston rings, upper cylinder walls, and eliminates valve sticking. Keeps rings free and reduces piston and cylinder wear. Also keeps a fuel pump and carburetor parts clean, eliminating the need for frequent adjusting. Marvel Mystery Oil retards formation of power dissipating motor deposits, such as gums, varnish, and sludge.
As good as that sounds, if you decide to try it in hopes of stopping that “ticking” valve, we suggest you follow the manufacturers’ instructions. Overuse of solvents, such as this, are reported to cause harmful metal-to-metal contact within your engine.
The Marvel Oil Company was founded in 1923 by Burt Pierce, inventor of the Marvel Carburetor. His carburetor was standard equipment on eighty percent of all vehicles produced after World War I. Why did he give it the name Mystery Oil? Is it said that Burt Pierce refused to divulge the formula for his new product and, when asked about its ingredients; he would say “It’s a Mystery”, and the name caught on.
You can find more information on Marvel Mystery Oil and it application here.
Comments
As A kid I remember my father using MMO. If it was good enough for him it was good enough for me.
I had Pontiac that was running terrible, no power, popping through the carb. and getting worse. I knew it was in the valve train ( by the pushrods that barely moved) I didn’t feel like doing a cam and lifters and so on, so I thought ” my dad used MMO to help free up a “seized” motor, so maybe it will help in my situation”. I did weekly oil/filter/MMO changes for a little over a month and to my surprise ( not believing in “mechanic in a can”)the motor came back, strong as ever.
I drove the car for about another year, no problems.
I currently have a few Jeep XJ’s with the 4.0 engine, a workhorse of a motor and I keep them that way by adding a quart of MMO every other oil change and a few ounces to every tank of fuel.
I’ve used Marvel Mystery Oil to free up some severely rusted and stuck engines. These came out of open air barns or were in cars that sat in fields for years. It takes patience, but the MMO eventually eats away enough grime to free things up enough to disassemble the engine. Without it, you have to resort to blasting out the center of the pistons with an air chisel … not fun.
I use MMO with a Amco Kit in my vw beetle.Perfect!!!, the only problem is that is really hard to find this Marvellous Oil in Spain.
I wonder if anyone can tell me where to obtain either the “marvel inverse oiler” or a product that can accomplish the same thing. I am operating engines on natural gas and this MMO application works great to add longevity to the top end of our engines, either air or water cooled. We are adding additional engines and need some of these oilers.
Thanks
Bruce,
Thank you for your question. We did some searching and came up with the VW Judson Register in the UK. Evidently the inverse oiler is standard equipment for the Judson Supercharger. They should be able to help you with what you need. Thankfully the US dollar is very strong now and buying from Britain is much more affordable.
Here’s a link to their site: http://vwjudsonregister.tripod.com/buyandsellpage.htm
Cheers,
Tony and Michele
moe in wichita ks marvel no longer makes what you are looking for. but an other co makes a oiler, i just ordered one. the co is Ampco at
http://www.ampcolubes.com/ any Qs my e-mail is moe7404@att.net
moe in wichita ks i forgot, you can make one with the right parts. i made one about 10 years ago, but its not easy. the hardest part is finding a place in the engine compartment to put it ,it has to be lower than the intake manafold.