1949 Merc 8CM engine

T

Tom Z...

Member
Hello guys, removed the heads, intake, water pumps, oil pan, found a lot of crap as some of you all said I would. Looks like all the pistons are stuck. So I want to use the mix of penetrating oil you all use. What is the mix made up of? Also is Roy the bolt hardware guy still in business. I want to put new head bolts & intake bolts in place of the old ones. The engine has one of those TEA POT carbs. who has the rebuild kits? Thanks Tom
 
Have you got the valves out yet? A stuck valve will prevent Pistons from moving. Try ThirdGen Auto for your bolts, he had a batch of intake bolts made and they look great.
 
1 part ATF to 1 part Acetone is a good mix for a large quantity of penetrant. Take the valves out first. It's going to be a bear without the common flathead tools but it has to be done to confirm it not just the valves that are stuck. A lot depends on how much corrosion is visible on the wall and piston. If it's real heavy then it may require busting the piston to get it out. The cylinder walls can be distorted by beating them out. Sometimes heating the piston and then letting it cool back down to ambient will loosing the crust. If it's not too crusty then find a hickory dowel to whack it with.

Third Generation Automotive took over Roy's business and combined it with theirs.
 
If you do not intend to reuse the valves/springs (I never do) it is a lot easier to just cut the valves, springs, etc to get them out. If the pistons are stuck to the point it is difficult to get them out without beating on them, cutting the center out of them can help a lot with removal. Pounding on a stuck piston can crack a cylinder wall, go easy.
 
There were a couple of threads on the H.A.M.B. about this a while ago. One guy insisted that liberal doses of regular (not diet) Coke would free them because of the combination of carbonation and acid. Another filled the valley with charcoal, lit it up, and covered it with a piece of sheet metal and kept it going a couple of days. He claimed it worked fine. I'd try some of the alternative methods before resorting to brute force.
 
This worked for me. I started out with Marvel Mystery Oil as the fuel, then diesel. I kept running out of fuels, so I went to brake fluid and atf. After the initial burn, I removed crank, put a large tray under the crank case with charcoal briquets in it. Heated from below, keeping holes filled with penetrant. To remove pistons, I had a roll of 2" wide lead sheet. It looked like a lead cinnamon roll. Set that on the piston and used a maple slug and BFH to pound (mostly tap) them out. No ridge, so a honing, new rings and a valve job took care of things. This is the engine in my woodie wagon today.
 

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GB SISSON said:
This worked for me. I started out with Marvel Mystery Oil as the fuel, then diesel. I kept running out of fuels, so I went to brake fluid and atf. After the initial burn, I removed crank, put a large tray under the crank case with charcoal briquets in it. Heated from below, keeping holes filled with penetrant. To remove pistons, I had a roll of 2" wide lead sheet. It looked like a lead cinnamon roll. Set that on the piston and used a maple slug and BFH to pound (mostly tap) them out. No ridge, so a honing, new rings and a valve job took care of things. This is the engine in my woodie wagon today.
Click to expand...

That was an epic Flathead Barbeque! I remember the thread well. ;)
 
I've been working on a stuck engine... two pistons stuck. First, I tried soaking with things like Kroil, PB blaster, etc, starting last July. No success with that. So, I resorted to the barbeque treatment, combined with Mart's BFH that he used on his 'crusty'. Got it apart quite easily. Just light tapping. Good thing I took it apart. Dead mouse carcass in one cylinder, and second cylinder filled with nest material. (It had been left with the plugs out, for who knows how long.)
 
Tom Z... said:
Hello guys, removed the heads, intake, water pumps, oil pan, found a lot of crap as some of you all said I would. Looks like all the pistons are stuck. So I want to use the mix of penetrating oil you all use. What is the mix made up of? Also is Roy the bolt hardware guy still in business. I want to put new head bolts & intake bolts in place of the old ones. The engine has one of those TEA POT carbs. who has the rebuild kits? Thanks Tom
Click to expand...

Rebuild kits for the carb (Holley model 885FFC) are available on EBAY, Mike's carburetor parts or from Daytona in Florida. There may be more. The cheapest I've seen is around $55.

Sal
 
Using a 3" hole saw, you can drill down and break off all the rings one at a time. I have a fixture that I use to center the hole saw in the bore (3 3/16 plate with a hole in the center) When you get to the ring, use a center punch to brake it. Works most of the time???
Gramps
 
Ol' Ron said:
Using a 3" hole saw, you can drill down and break off all the rings one at a time. I have a fixture that I use to center the hole saw in the bore (3 3/16 plate with a hole in the center) When you get to the ring, use a center punch to brake it. Works most of the time???
Gramps
Click to expand...

Dangit Gramps! That's a stroke of genius!
 
If some of you have gotten rusty stuff loose with atf and acetone, then
your stuff was NOT really that rusty...

Here are two real rusty things I have been soaking (as an experiment)
for a VERY Long time, the nut and bolt, (three years) and the little hinge
for over a year now.
The acetone does NOT mix with atf for very long, they separate.
And the acetone evaporates pretty quick, so you have to keep adding
acetone and I have had the nut and bolt in a glass jar with lid, and I
have been shaking it up to keep it mixed together untill I got sick of
doing that, so the nut and bolt has been soaking for at least 3 years.
I take it out a couple time a year an use my air guns on it, and
it has Never budged at all.
Even my rusty little hinge is still stuck tighter than Jack Benny, even
after over a year of soaking in that junk. My experiment says it's Junk.

Click on pics to Enlarge ;)
 

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Hello Denny, i don't have any Evaporust, or I would sure try some.
I thought that little hinge would have derusted some, but as you
can see, I pounded a screw driver in it, and it still won't budge.
I will have to see about getting some Evaporust to experiment with.




.
 
"Home Depot" has Metal Restore which is about the same and available in smaller containers. I bought either a pint or quart of Evaporust (CRS syndrome) at Advance Auto (or maybe it was at O'Reilly's):confused:.
 
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