I have this rather old VW (1500 or 1600 not sure yet) engine that I am looking to fire up after its been sitting for an unknown period of years. I pulled the plugs and sprayed wd40 into the cylinders and when I drained the oil the very first bit of oil that came out was rather grey. The remaining was black as I expected.
Is this something to be concerned about? Im guessing its some water from condensation as it was stored in an open barn for some time before I had it in my garage.
Yeah, the gray was water mixed with oil. Sure you don't have a BHG? 
It certainly can't be a "good" thing, but give it a try. It probably wouldn't hurt to pull the oil pan and inspect, but my ACVW-fu is weak.
not a pan to inspect on a Type 1.. just an inspection plate where the oil pickup is.
I would do a flush with some cheap oil.. maybe disconnect the ignition and crank it a lot to get the pressure up.. and then dump and refill with something decent before starting
It sounds like at one time that was using leaded gas, lead deposits end up in the bottom of the oil pan.
I would pull the pan (sump cover on a VW) and scrape the rest of the deposits out.
Nothing Major to worry about.
thanks, I was planning on doing the flush thing anyway since its been sitting so long. I also drained the oil thru a paper towel to see if there are any tell tale shavings. Havent looked at it yet.
There's a screen behind that inspection plate - what passes for an oil filter on these motors. Clean the screen, give it a flush and fire it up.
Absent some prior damage, you should be fine. These things aren't fussy.
Post the serial number and we can tell if it is a 1500 or 1600 - at least originally. Many were upgraded over time, as a piston and jug replacement without splitting the case was a common backyard 'engine rebuild'. Did a few myself....
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