Hot Rods New Hemi, how should I clean it?

Hey guys, just picked up my first Hemi. This will be my real first engine to work on. Pretty stoked. I'm going to get some Deep Creep to pour down the spark plug holes tomorrow.

What do you guys recommend for cleaning the oil/gunk off this thing? Should I just dry scrape it with a razor blade or cover it in break clean and brush it off?

Cheers. Gonna have a lot of build threads coming up soon. Finishing cleaning the shop.

 

Sweet !! Is that a little red ram ?? Good score! Just keep all of your cleaning liquid out of the internals. You can rock it any way you want to then. ie.- spark plug holes, distributor hole, and carb covered. I like the hot pressure washers, and diesel fuel portable sprayer soaks myself. Just shoot the hell out of it with diesel, and hot wash the shit out of it. Works great if you have access to one.

 

Call me when that air breather lands in the scrap pile. Would look good hanging on my wall!

 

drop the pan......

 

Engine de-greaser?

 

Thanks everyone did not know if it was safe to hit it with a power washer. Gonna hit up Canadian Tire tomorrow to get everything.

I actually really dig that air breather It might be staying on hahahah. I believe it's a 331 but need to check the #'s to be certain.

 

could be...truck hemi.

 

...appears to be a '54-331...but something goofy with the carb. Looks to be a 2-bbl adapted to a 4-bbl manifold??

Are you planning to run the engine w/o a rebuild? Does it run now-have you had it running? If you remove one of the plugs and tube you can see a little bit of the rockers...how bad is the crud built up?
There is always the concern with old engines that internal cleaning can dislodge chunks that can/will restrict the oil pump pick-up. Dropping the pan and running it through a hot tank is a good idea and not expensive but exercise caution attacking the insides.
Removing the rocker assemblies and giving them a proper cleaning is only needed at this point if they fail to oil. If the rockers are removed you might as well rebuild the heads since they will be loose.
It all goes back to whether or not it runs, how well it runs, and your plans.

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I would not pressure wash it. Too much chance of water getting in the engine. Strip it down and wash the parts as removed. I assume it is stuck.

 

The engine is seized. I got some engine cleaner and Deep Creep today. I put one full can of Deep Creep down the spark plug holes. Not sure if I should let it sit overnight and try to turn it or just put the other can right in there and then try the next day?

My plan is to do a full clean, tare down to inspect and rebuild whatever needs to be replaced. Mostly stock, perhaps a nice cam..not too sure yet. Just want to get it turning over and start cleaning/disassembling.

 

I was having flashbacks when I read the title of this thread.

 

After you clean it, and want to get into the fun stuff........check out this guy's hemi page:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/hemi-tech-index.118764/

 

Not a Dodge wet intake

 

The cleaning solution works great. The motor is still seized to hell. Not sure if this is going to work. How long does it typically take to un-seize an engine? Is it better to tare it down or just keep pouring oil down there? Thanks.

WOW thank you so much!!!

 

Be careful as you try to unstick the motor as it's possible to bend a pushrod or even break the cam if one or more of the valves is stuck. Good luck!

 

I'm starting to think this might be the case. But I'm probably wrong. I have 0 experience working on motors, let alone a seized one.

This is all that has come out of my turning on the nut.



Call me stooped, but I was told to crank on the nut that goes there. One socket split in two. All I can manage to do is loosen it.

Spoke with my grandfather today, he said put a pipe wrench on the pulley. I attempted this but had difficulty tightening the pipe wrench sufficiently. Are there any tricks?

He also said if that does not work, boil some water and pour them down the spark plug holes because it's thinner than oil...then put diesel down after you get it turning over.

Should I attempt this, keep trying to turn it? Pour more oil? Get more Deep Creep? Or does this mean I may need to start dismantling incase anything is broken?

To you die hards who may get frustrated reading this, relax this is all new to me hahahar.

Thanks for any advice and criticism. Cheers.

 

Just start pulling parts off. Waterpump and housing, exhaust manifolds, intake, dist, valve covers, heads with the rockers. You probably have stuck valves so pulling the heads frees that problem. Look at the bores to see what the condition is. Leave the pully alone for now.

 

To clean it? Try soaking it down with easy-off oven cleaner, then a good brass wire brush on the outside surfaces. To un-stick it? Andy has the best advice.

 

if its siezed , take it apart and check parts , and the bores as you should check them for stuff that might be in there that shouldn't , and since the motor is going to have to be rebuilt anyways .

 

If it's a 54 or truck hemi the C/R is officially 7.5 & could be close to a full point lower, so figure on some custom 10:1 pistons. and yes the rings are shot & the bore is probably not to good @ this point. Had a stuck 331 that was the cam, pistons came right out.

 

Thank you Andy. I will start doing this as soon as I can. Almost have the shop stripped/cleaned/reorganized. I will make sure to take lots of pictures.

I will start cleaning as best I can while everything is together and then when things are disassembled.

Thanks kindly. I will start dismantling things as soon as I have the time. Hopefully over the weekend.

Ok thanks George. I will get the numbers off this thing sooner than later so we can see what kind of motor it is. Hopefully she comes a part easily!

 

"Stooped" Can't stand up straight? Pipe wrench: I wouldn't risk dicking up the snout. Water: water causes rust. Maybe try MMO or ATF & let it soak for a week or 2, but you'll still need to tear it down.

 

Nothing will clean it better than a kerosene fired steam cleaner. I rent them from my rent all place occasionally, but if you have a truck wash by you maybe you could put in in the back of a truck and have them clean it for you. If it's seized it's not gonna matter if you get a little water inside. From pressure washing or whatever. You are tearing it down anyways.

 

If the engine crankshaft will not spin I wouldn't try turning the crankshaft via the front pulley. Soak the cylinders with your solvent of choice. Pull the cylinder heads off the engine and have a look at the exposed bores and pistons. If there's nothing obvious binding the engine use the ring gear on the flywheel. Carefully use a stout screwdriver to pry against the teeth of the ring gear, one way then the other. If you can spin the flywheel just a bit keep soaking the bores and let the solvent break the corrosion free.
Good luck!

 

I had a 354 that was really stuck bad. Took hours to knock 1 or 2 pistons out enough to get the crank out. 1 piston never did come out. Soaking for weeks was having little effect. That one doesn't look that bad. It shouldn't be that stuck. I would pull the heads and see if you can unbolt the pistons and get enough room to get the crank out. That's just me anyway.

 

At this point I suggest forgetting about cleaning anything and just tear it down.
Yes, if it is stuck and you cannot get it to move even a little bit, then you will be adding to your vocabulary. And no, it is not an impossible task to accomplish, just proceed cautiously when force is needed.
Once the heads are off you will see if the cylinders are rusty/cruddy or have vermin living in there and after removing the timing chain you will know if the cam is stuck.
The worst case scenario is that you have removed everything possible, including a couple of pistons and the crank will still not turn. This also means that the converter cannot be removed easily. Solution for the 'new' guy?
First option: start drilling holes through the tops of the pistons...lots of big holes... then carefully beat on what remains in order to free the wristpin. Stay away from the cylinder walls for obvious reasons.
Second option: Check with all of your local machine shops and see if any still have/use a hot tank. Ask as to when they plan to flush/refill the tank. See if they would be willing to put your partial assembled short block in the tank over the weekend prior to the tank flush. Even well worn hot tank chemicals will eat up the aluminum over a 48 hour period. At that point the chemicals will be useless for normal use and the reason for doing this prior to a flush.
Yes, some guys will suggest beating on the pistons but it is possible to damage the cylinder walls if the rings are well rusted to the walls.
Take your time and resist the urge to pick up a 6lb hammer...

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I would pull the heads and see if there is any rust in the cylinders?,had one once that was seized,pulled a head off and found the walls were broke from water getting in and freezing.The heads are easy to remove on them,no exhaust pipes to remove to get at the bolts?.And with the heads off it loosens up the rotating mass,you will also have some stuck valves too. Harvey

 

Best solvent i've found for this kinda work it 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone. Keep us posted- rick

 

Everything is still stuck like crazy. You can see the pics below.

I will try to clean everything asap. It was pretty rough, though.

Here are some pictures of my progress.



Man was it thick or what.



Bit blurry.




I think I found one of the main problems...





Wiping the cylinders was as far as I got today.




She's a bloody mess!!!

So I am assuming S22 means this is a 1955 Desoto 291 ??