Technical Freeing Up Stuck Engine

Wow! Well that just sold me on the citric acid method!


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I had a sbc lock up on me. I left the engine together and filled it to the gills with old motor oil. Even filled the intake with oil! Every hole in the engine i filled with oil, let it sit about 2 weeks and then drained all the oil out of it. Pulled the heads and oil pan then i turned it upside down and removed all the rod caps then went to beating the crap out of each piston with a BFH and block of wood. Finally got it all apart and went and bought a set of pistons, put her back together n raised hell for another year!!!! Dont b afraid to beat a piston! They make new ones every day!!!


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Had an old hot rodder when I had a seized flathead to fill it to the top with transmission fluid and leave it for a few months. Tried it and it worked.

 

read a post, I thought on here, that showed building a charcoal fire directly below the block to heat the entire block up for a expansion/contraction cycle. Memory says they added charcoal to the tappet valley as well. Best to do that outside. I have seen builders do that to stuck antique hit and miss engines.

 

Not a solution, but good to know, those years Caddy were known collect rust at the back cylinder jackets. The result was the the back cylinders would run hot and consequently warp into egg shaped.

 

I have seen Mrs. Beaner do it with Coca-Cola and ATF (mostly coke). Still took a day with a boring bar to save the block but she sold the pistons at a swap meet to a guy who needed them and he used the pistons.

I am with @squirrel I usually just take it apart (oak block and BFH) and save what I can.

 

From experience, I would avoid using the BFH trick. I pounded out 8 pistons from an old Buick block, damaging them all, only to find out that there were .030 over pistons and very expensive to replace.

 

If they are rusted in place you usually end up boring the block to clean up cylinder damage. Not always.

Those +.030 pistons in your Buick were no doubt worth saving even if you could not use them. Someone would have liked them.

On a rare engine you probably always want to go to freeing it up. If I had a tin side flathead that I wanted to use I would expend lots of energy trying not to damage very much of it. On the other hand if I had a common everyday chebby small block I would just go after it like I was killin snakes.

 

Tried for months on an OT four cylinder block. Thought it was worthwhile due to the value of a rebuild engine. Soaked cylinders for a really long time with white vinegar to remove the corrosion then Marvel and PB Blaster to get them loose. Nothin' Removed the crank and used a steel slug and a 10lb sledge to break them loose but they still weren't removable. Ended up drilling and chiseling the pistons out.

I gotta try the citric acid bath on this thing. It's crusty as hell.

 

I did use hydraulic pressure to free one up after looking inside with a bore scope I figured what the hell . If cylinders pressure reach 1500 psi running 2500 psi hydraulic pressure should move something made spark plug adapter to pipe thread removed the rockers. Hooked it to my farm tractor it moved but not without damage.

 

Good idea ^^^

 

This was from a Studebaker Drivers Club magazine:
Remove main and rod caps.
Put block in the upside down position on a couple of cinder blocks under each end.
Put a Coleman old style camp stove under the block or build a cool charcoal fire. Use boards, sheet metal or a tarp to “tent” in the block
Go get some dry ice.
When the block is good and hot throughout, break up the dry ice into manageable chunks and fill the bottom of the pistons with them.
Wait a while for the dry ice to do it’s work, then hammer out the pistons.

 

I had a brother in law [R.I.P.] who had a small caterpillar with a stuck engine. He pulled the pan and head.....soaked from the top end and put a 20 ton jack against against a crankshaft counterweight, pushing up from underneath. After several weeks of constant pressure, the engine popped loose and in a week he had it running.

 

Is that a trolling motor in your citric acid bath?

 

Yes, I added that to create some circulation when I dip an engine block or something with internal passages. Its also handy for getting the citric powder to mix as I put it in the tank. I don't leave it in place all the time, just stick it in every so often to help flush the residue out of the passageways. Maybe let it run a half hour or so at a time. Its a smaller trolling motor with a plastic prop that I found on Facebook Marketplace for $50.

 

Some good stuff here.

I bought 2 stuck Olds 324s a while back, unfortunately with Jetaways still attached to them. I had to roll the one over on the ground and disassemble the mains and rods and ultimately take the crank out still attached to the torus. What a nightmare.

 

Cadillac is trashed. I did drill a hole in the pistons on my flat head. Took off the caps and swung my BFH. It moved! Before I get excited, could I just keep beating on the pistons until all drops out as one? Or put caps on loosely?

 

The scene:

 

you can break bores by hammering out badly rusted pistons.

 

That is true. The bores of the flat head and pistons are pretty clean.

 

Anyone ever try a good quality harmonic dampener puller with the slots milled out for larger diameter bolts????.....

 

I did not know this acid creates a toxic gas when used on certain metals. I tried to delete this post because I don’t want anyone being injured over my irresponsible behavior. I was lucky when I did this It was over thirty years ago! Delete my post please!


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