Smoke But No Fire

If I had any close neighbours they might have thought I had a fire in the yard today. The old Mercury fired up and ran long enough to burn off some of the oil that had been soaking in the cylinders all winter. I had to get a little inventive as the old six volt battery was just too slow cranking for it to start. I set up an auxiliary 12 volt battery that I could connect direct to the starter side of the solenoid allowing 12 volts for cranking but still keeping six volts on the other side for the ignition and the rest of the electrical system. It worked well. Cranked over right smartly and fired up. It does sound like one cylinder is a little low on compression but considering how many of the valves were stuck open when i first started working on it, I can't complain too much. Need to run a compression test now to determine which cylinder needs attention.
Not too surprising that both water pumps leak anti freeze around the shafts. I'm hoping they might seal up a little with use (wishful thinking maybe?) but I drained the system so it doesn't all leak out overnight. Still too cold at night to leave water in the cooling system.
I am a little amazed that the fuel pump and carburetor work as well as they do considering they have been sitting unused for over 30 years.
A new problem surfaced when I tried dropping it into drive. Absolutely nothing happened. Not even a clunk or hesitation. The fluid level looked good when I checked yesterday so I don't know what the problem is there. I had hoped it might at least move under it's own power but that won't happen until I figure out the transmission problem.