Unsticking an unused engine........

[Miranthis]

Ok, i have the engine out and at my home garage. I power washed it of 59 years of caked on grease. Ruined a set of shorts in that little operation as the stuff just will not come out even with my usual grease removing tricks. Also did the wash a little close to the closed garage door and had to wash the house down as well, so as not to be murdered by my wife...her patience is only so much . Block was cast on 8/2/1965 by the night shift. The casting number is 2465330-3. The front driver's edge is stamped B273-11-6. The SO shows the car expected assembly on B10 (11/10/1965).

Removed the heads and all the lifters are mobile and looked good. Here is cyl #2 that was the only one that never leaked down from the MMO, ATF, PB Blaster, etc. over the month or so it soaked,

Aside from the carbon I can't see any good reason on the top end for it to be seized, other than frozen rings. Here is the whole passenger bank.

and the driver's bank

The cylinders are all looking pretty good, but there is a distinct 'top of travel' ridge on each one, but then at 235K miles that should be expected.

I did find a fair amount of a grey "crap" in the recesses of the galley, Is this casting sand? (pic of it on my finger)

Will turn it over and take a look at the bottom end next weekend. At this point its either frozen rings (in Cyl 2 at least, i suspect) or the crank is locked up. From what I can see looking from the top end, the crank does not look bad, but it has to be something, and my money is on frozen ring(s).

Will keep you posted.

 

[RustyRatRod]

The grey bit on your finger is moisture mixed with oil.

 

[harrisonm]

We use to unstick old tractors and car engines in the 80's by completley fill the entire engine with kerosene now they fill the engine with diesel fuel pour it right in were you put the oil in on a small block v8 it is around 8 gallons let it sit for a week then drain it turn it over with the spark plugs out then fill it with oil I guarantee it will turn over

Guarantee?? Now there is a man who is confident of his suggestion.
Seriously though, I have never heard of the Diesel fuel trick. I hope @Miranthis tries it. My curiosity is piqued.
Edit: Well I just saw that he already pulled the heads. I was hoping to see the Diesel fuel trick.

 

[Miranthis]

The grey bit on your finger is moisture mixed with oil.

It's very sandy and hard caked in the low spots of the heads and the oil galley....had to dig it out with a screwdriver in several places. Are you sure it is an oil/water emulsification, as that would make it more like an unholy mayonnaise consistency as opposed to what feels a bit like a lapping compound?

 

[RustyRatRod]

It's very sandy and hard caked in the low spots of the heads and the oil galley....had to dig it out with a screwdriver in several places. Are you sure it is an oil/water emulsification, as that would make it more like an unholy mayonnaise consistency as opposed to what feels a bit like a lapping compound?

It's whatever you think it is.

 

[Mike69cuda]

Some folks will use Coke to unstick a froze engine. Only costs $5 bucks for a couple of two liters. …..and think about that next time you drink some…..

 

[Miranthis]

After a bit of searching on various forums, this seems to be the consensus for the hard, gritty, clay-like stuff I found and had to chip out of the recesses to get a socket on the head bolts:

"This used to be common back in the 50's, 60's and 70's with oils with high paraffin content, leaded fuel, not the greatest of filters and if it sat for extended periods of time between runs. It's a pale gray looking clay/putty and once it settles to the bottom of the pan the only way to get it out is remove the pan and literally chip and scrape it out. You only see it now on old original engines from that time period as most have been rebuilt or scrapped since the days of that wonderful old oil...

Oil would wick it's way up the main cap bolts and the deposits would settle out but it was like a layer of partially dried cement on the bottom of the pan."

 

[Newbomb Turk]

Ok, i have the engine out and at my home garage. I power washed it of 59 years of caked on grease. Ruined a set of shorts in that little operation as the stuff just will not come out even with my usual grease removing tricks. Also did the wash a little close to the closed garage door and had to wash the house down as well, so as not to be murdered by my wife...her patience is only so much . Block was cast on 8/2/1965 by the night shift. The casting number is 2465330-3. The front driver's edge is stamped B273-11-6. The SO shows the car expected assembly on B10 (11/10/1965).
View attachment 1716298343View attachment 1716298344

Removed the heads and all the lifters are mobile and looked good. Here is cyl #2 that was the only one that never leaked down from the MMO, ATF, PB Blaster, etc. over the month or so it soaked,
View attachment 1716298339
Aside from the carbon I can't see any good reason on the top end for it to be seized, other than frozen rings. Here is the whole passenger bank.
View attachment 1716298340
and the driver's bank
View attachment 1716298342
The cylinders are all looking pretty good, but there is a distinct 'top of travel' ridge on each one, but then at 235K miles that should be expected.
View attachment 1716298341

I did find a fair amount of a grey "crap" in the recesses of the galley, Is this casting sand? (pic of it on my finger)
View attachment 1716298345

Will turn it over and take a look at the bottom end next weekend. At this point its either frozen rings (in Cyl 2 at least, i suspect) or the crank is locked up. From what I can see looking from the top end, the crank does not look bad, but it has to be something, and my money is on frozen ring(s).

Will keep you posted.

You will probably need to get a good sized chisel and a BFH to break that piston to get it out.

Over the years I’ve had to beat dozens of pistons senseless to get them out.

Much quicker than soaking and all that. Time IS money.

 

[RustyRatRod]

After a bit of searching on various forums, this seems to be the consensus for the hard, gritty, clay-like stuff I found and had to chip out of the recesses to get a socket on the head bolts:

"This used to be common back in the 50's, 60's and 70's with oils with high paraffin content, leaded fuel, not the greatest of filters and if it sat for extended periods of time between runs. It's a pale gray looking clay/putty and once it settles to the bottom of the pan the only way to get it out is remove the pan and literally chip and scrape it out. You only see it now on old original engines from that time period as most have been rebuilt or scrapped since the days of that wonderful old oil...

Oil would wick it's way up the main cap bolts and the deposits would settle out but it was like a layer of partially dried cement on the bottom of the pan."

Exactly what I said. It's contamination from moisture and everything else that's collected. Were moisture not involved, there would be no agent for everything to solidify against.

 

[LaDemon]

Check post #48. Seeing that you now have the it on an engine stand, I suggest that you remove the rod bearing cap on cylinder #2. See if you can rotate the crank away from the piston rod. If you can, 2 is the problem. If possible, I’d remove all the piston you can then set it #2 cylinder side straight upwards, then fill the #2 cylinder with the 30% white vinegar. Cover it up and wait a couple days, then empty it out and try to “tap” it up or down with a wooden block and hammer. Repeat as needed. This method worked great for me.

 

[harrisonm]

Some folks will use Coke to unstick a froze engine. Only costs $5 bucks for a couple of two liters. …..and think about that next time you drink some…..

That is why I always add rum to my Coke. The rum offsets the bad effects of the Coke.

 

[Miranthis]

Block is stamped B273-11-6 which does not match the online discussions of later (98 and after) block stamping that has the partial VIN. However, with a 8/2 casting and an 11/10 SO date is the stamped 11-6 the engine assembly date?

 

[4fortyDemon]

I just started on another 383 teardown from a car that was sitting for 30 years... yeah with no aircleaner on it..lol. here's a couple of pics from yesterday. Locked up solid in about 6 cylinders... used white vinegar.. stinks like hell,but wow! This was about 5 hours of sitting in the bores.

 

[StreetSleeper]

Lacquer thinner, automatic transmission fluid, maybe add penetrating oil (Z max super thin oil)

Should loosen rusted stuck metal

You would have to see it to decide what to do then

 

[Miranthis]

Lacquer thinner, automatic transmission fluid, maybe add penetrating oil (Z max super thin oil)

Should loosen rusted stuck metal

You would have to see it to decide what to do then

Used MMO, ATF &acetone, PB BLaster, Knocker loose, wd40 penetrant,, deep creep, all for a good long soak. Cyl 2 never leaked down, but the other 7 did. Thought the inside must be bad, but both top amd bottom end look great. Was going to take the rof cap off on #2 and see if crank roatated, but it is in a position that i cannot get a socket on the 'lower' rod nut. The main bearings 1 2 and 3 look good as do the crank journals there.

At this point i am 95% sure the issue is frozen ring(s) in #2. Since the bores look bretty good for 235k miles i could just button it back up and let the rebuilder figure it out. But, i really want to get it free first and probably will pull the crank so i can get a wrench on that lower rod nut. The only thing i can get on it at this point is a univeral joint socket, but cant get enough leverage to breaknot loose.

Will upload some pics as soon as I get some time to film them.

 

[Ant]

Piece of wood on the piston and hit it with a hammer.

 

[4fortyDemon]

Piece of wood on the piston and hit it with a hammer.

Yeah, that doesn't work...lol. been there, tried that on a different 383. To the point of trying to break the piston... no Bueno.

 

[cookietruck]

Tore a motor down a while back and wanted to free it up before to check. I shot some penetrant in each cylinder, it broke free but would only rotate a little, about 20 degrees.
Once i pulled the heads it was apparent it wouldn’t turn all the way over because there was some powdery buildup in the combustion chambers. Cylinders are fine for a rebuild.

I would just try to break it loose and not worry about getting to turn over completely, then tear it down.

 

[halfafish]

You probably don't want to try this, but once upon a time I had a 273 that was junk, and it was frozen up. I decided to get it freed up as an academic exercise. I did all the soaking tricks and was going to take the crank out and get the pistons out one at a time. However, the rotation of the rod bolts was such that one bolt on one piston was in such a location that I couldn't get that nut loose any way. So I turned the motor upside down and whaled on one of the crank weights with an immensely large BFH. It worked and broke loose whatever was seized, but it also mushroomed out the crank weight which I didn't care about.

I'm not sure if this method would bring other collateral damage or not, but it did work. If I was to do it again and wanted to not bugger up the crank, I'd take a hardwood block and use that between the crank and sledge.