bought a 54 mercury that sat in a field for 18 years and was never run in that time  put 12 volts to it with no power at the coil turned over by hand everything was free and not seized  put fresh fuel in the carb and tank hooked up the coil and turned her over  she fired rite up  but made lifter noises she smoothed  out in 15 min. then I drove her on a trailer and she is still runs great and I use sae 30  oil  and this is 19 years later ! lucky me!

Personal opinion but this would be a perfect time to change the spark plug wires mounting them thru the proper factory guide rubbers. Nothing looks worse than spark plug wires going all over the place in the engine bay. Also if you have a pressure washer this is the time to really clean the engine bay also. There are some great cleaners to soak all the areas and brush into while every thing is open. Good luck.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

First change the oil and filter, pull the dist, use an elec drill with an extension and socket to turn the oil pump to prime. Pull the plugs and add a small amount of light weight oil to each cyl, and turn it over several times, after priming. Radiator out should be enough room for installation.

I am getting ready to install a 292 with Cruise-o-matic in my '56 Fairlane. This 292 engine/trans pkg was a fresh removal out of a running/driving '61 Sunliner when I bought it and it's been setting in my garage for about 4 years, clean & dry. I have replaced the 2 bbl manifold with the 4bbl "B" manifold I took off the 292 in my Vicky. I have a new 500 CFM Edelbrock to go on the manifold. My question is what do I need to do to prep the engine to start. Do I need to spin the oil pump to get some oil cycling thru the bearings? If so how? Do I need to squirt some oil in the cylinders before I spin the engine? I haven't changed the oil yet but plan to before I crank it over. Any suggestions on what oil I should use? Do I need a Zinc additive? I have the radiator out, should also remove the grill & radiator support brace to make the swap easier? 
Thanks in advance