Thanks to chicosuave01 I'm now a proud owner of a 354 chrsyler Hemi. Its current state is kinda sad looking. stuck, missing intake, busted up valve covers, busted manifolds, rusty rusty rusty. earlier today i went out to Lowes and bought a gallon of wd40 and poured into every cylinder of the engine in HOPES of breaking the thing loose. here in a couple days i will give the engine a good pry and try and turn it over. WIsh me luck guys. i will post pictures later of the engine and the build process. the engine will have a home in a 33plymouth 5w inwhich i will post pictures of that build in a different thread later. 11-27-2012. Chris
Pb blaster or brake fluid works the best for breaking engines loose . We have restored over fifty antique tractors and there engines were always stuck when we got them, those two lubricants are the most "acidic" , they really chew through rust , just some info to help ya out
Look at the cylinders that are exposed and see if there is a ridge. If there is you do not care about the pistons as the engine will need to be bored. Just use a drill and open some holes in them. Then break up the stuck pistons with a chisel. Sounds kinda crude but what do you care about the originals when you'll need to buy new? Be carefull to not get into the cylinder walls or the rods. Now it's unstuck.
Congrats! I shoot a combination of PB Blaster and Marvel Mytery Oil into the cylinder bores and let it sit for a week. Have had nothing but good results with it- best of luck!
Waste of time. WD40 won't free up anything rusted & frozen. Never did - never will. Like others said, PB Blaster or similar is needed.
Fantastic! Welcome to your new addiction! Now start reading the Hemi Tech section that all of us HAMBers put together! Yeah, WD40 isn't going to do it. I personally like ATF. It's cheap and works! There was an even better recipe on here recently that used ATF and something else. ATF and Acetone, i think it was. Was tested out to be the best and certainly the cheapest method.
yes, 50/50; mix thoroughly. Keep the squeeze bottle or container sealed, else the acetone will evaporate.
I know it's in vogue to claim that WD40 is useless and causes crabs and lawsuits, but let's be a bit more fair in our assessment. Since we have no idea how stuck the engine is, it could well be that WD40 frees it up. Perhaps other products are better, but to suggest WD40 does nothing is a stretch.
Agreed. It has a TON of uses. I think based on his (the OP's) comments, we all have a "worst case" visual in our heads, though. So may as well go for the "big hammer". I don't think anyone was implying it was useless.
Hope to see it sometime when you get it on the road. Chico is a super nice guy to deal with.....I'm sure you already knew that about him.
havent had time to fool with it yet. working tons of OT and all money going towards the hemi. im going to try and turn over with heads on. if no luck i will procedd on tearing the engine down further and further until i get somewhere with it. if it means down to a bare block i will.
here are two pictures of the hemi as of where it landed... i had a chain hoist tied up in my storage shed. saying that....the 2x6 could no handle the beefy engine. it fell onto my banger for the 28 ford roadster. after taking these pictures i pulled off the oil pan to investigate the internals. everything looked great! looked like a new engine inside. i was very suprized. i had to use a 20lb sledge hammer to bust off the oil pan. it was stuck on there good.
also this is a 58' truck engine from what i was told. forgot to mention that. first thing that's gotta go is the huge ass water pump. WTF were they thinking back then
Man, I relate, I was given a Desoto Hemi the other day, it was stuck as well. I went ahead and pulled the heads to see what I was up against. wasn't bad, a little Marvel for a couple days and I got the rods/ pistons out without too much issues. I figured it's coming apart anyway, why bother trying for weeks to get it to turn.
Mother Mopar was thinking that some yay-hoo was going to have his truck running for 20-24 hours a day working the corn or wheat fields in Kansas and that he would appreciate the design... The block is drilled with the same pattern as the 51-54 331 so you can use a stock front cover if ya like. .
yea. i am wanting to run a bbc water pump. so im converting the whole front end of the engine. putting this hemi on a DEIT!
im sad now....pulled one head off and one cylinder was busted out. once i get courage built back up im going to go pull the other head.
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