Sticky Valves in the Motor?

your dad probably meant that when a motor is froze up from sitting, people would pour tranny fluid in the spark plug holes to help free up the pistons. pouring tranny fluid down the carb will only smoke up the neighborhood and ruin the spark plugs. some people pour water down the carb to help burn away carbon in the combustion chamber. however, i would not second guess your "pops," he might of had something else in mind.

Put some sea-foam in the hose connected to the "crankcase" and the brake booster. Put half the can in it when car is at operating temp and running, then turn it off for about 5 min or more the better, then start it back up. Get alot of white smoke, but it should run better. White smoke will clear up.

Also no i wouldn't put trans fluid in cars today. or back then either

Its possible that its actually the lifters sticking and not able to fill with oil to cushion the valvetrain. This ends up as a tick tick tick noise. Plenty of additives to pick from to add to the oiling system as a cleaner. Follow the directions.

Also using the wrong additive, poured into the carb or throttle body can harm the catalytic converter.

you can put 1 quart of automatic= say dextron ll transmission fluid in the oil filler to the crank case and only run it for about 25 miles , then drain it and add fresh penzoil ,this has a very high detergent rating for oil and it will be fine

in any car with a cat, that is a very bad idea as it can plug that thing up. sea foam might be a better idea.