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I've had older mechanics swear by a product that made high miles engines run smoother that comes in the form of pellets to put in the spark plug holes.  I've checked every autoparts store I could think of when I had a old clunker I wanted to help out and since then have been asked by a few people.  Any clue what this product is called and where can I find these?  Thanks  

I'm one of those older mechanics and the only "pellet" type of engine additive was put in the fuel tank and claimed to help seal the cylinder walls while driving by filling in the scraches. (I think it was from 1975 JC Whitney) It sound like "snake oil" to me. There are some fuel and oil additives that do work and you might ask you local auto parts store what they carry. Just remember any additive is only temporary and it's effetiveness is relative to the severity of mechanical conditions.  

JC Whitney used to sell that kind of Snake Oil. We used to laugh about the possibility that someone, other than a realy bad used car saleman, would actually buy them. No insult intended. I have used, with some results, "Engine Restore" brand additive at oil chg. Hot Rod Magazine did test the product and reported satisfactory results.  

It's called Yale engine overhaul... try going to carparts.com I think that will get you there.

I used it years ago on a profoundly worn 270 chevy 6 cyl in a delivery van

the engine was so loose... that it was nearly impossible to have a conversation while going down the road.

I got the Engine overhaul and followed the directions...

warm up engine... shut it off... remove plugs one at a time and put several "pellets" in to each plug hole...then replace plug and wire...

afterwards when you've done all the cylinders, run the engine for a little while and shut it off for about an hour.

My experience of the product was that it made a profound improvement for about 4000 miles. The engine was amazingly quieter, and had a good deal more power.

I would say that the product must be made to melt across the top of the piston and flow around the top most ring creating a seal and improving compression, reducing oil consumption, and reducing noise from piston slap.

The claim tht it quiets and seals the piston made a lot of sense..

To me the claim that it sealed the valves did not make sense.  

I found that after 3000 to 4000 miles the effect was wearing off, and the treatment could be redone... I am sure you could do it many times.

With todays fuel and oil prices I'd think that you might well eek a couple of extra years of service out of a very tired old motor... nothing to sneeze at.

A LOT OF PEOPLE sneer at such products... Here's the thing. Every thing on the market was once NOT ON THE MARKET. Each thing we now accept was once considered nonsense... Radial tires, disc brakes, oil filtration, remote oil filters, fuel filters, gas filled shock absorbers,  seat belts, head rests, roll bars, are some of the things that were once new....and not accepted... that did not mean they didn't work it simply meant that there was little experience with them...

I think the stuff is well worth the try...NOT a miracle cure for an ancient motor, but often a hell of a good bandaid.... Mike  

I have been looking for these as well. I used them in my baby, a beautiful 72 Monte Carlo with a worn 350, around 20 years ago. They worked amazingly for around 5 years under the pressure of a twenty-something lead-foot. The stock engine ran incredibly after initially having to change the plugs that were fouled, probably because of the inpatient user. I am hoping to find some to put off a rebuild on a cheap Flywing MX100 that I got for my 13 year old.
Look up Yale Engine Overhaul

By the way when I did finally rebuild it was not out of necessity and I had no adverse effects to speak of.