Engine rebuild

5

55 ford

Junior Member
Just bought a 55 customline with a 272 and a 3 sp standard. The motor smokes white and has an miss fire at 30ish. Any suggestions guys ? I know it may be head gaskets but am I just wasting my time and money replacing the gaskets .
 
Run a compression test first and post the results,also has the car sat for some time prior to you buying it?
 
Low compression in 7 cyl one dead cyl . Yes the car sat for some time. Drove it some it smokes pretty bad . Was thinking of a 289 crate motor but not sure if my 3. Sp will bolt up . The three on the tree is a must have for me. Thanks for your advice.
 
55 Ford - Try an inexpensive liquid fix. A can of Seafoam available in any auto parts store or Walmart. Half can in gas tank, the other half in the crankcase. Works wonders and, at this point, what do you have to lose. I had major smoking from my '49. One can and no more smoking. May just be temporary fix, but no smoking for last several months.
 
Thanks George, some one else gave me the same advice. Only suggested marvelous mystery oil . I'm gonna try the sea foam . Got a new gas tank to install should I use the sea foam first before installing the tank ? After 2 gal of gas the old tank leaks.
 
55Ford - Just a guess here, please don't take it as gospel as I'm not an expert on engine internals. But I would say that it probably would help. Anyway, can't hurt. It's about $9 for a can of Seafoam - so, Kick a dead dog and see what happens. Other than what you lose thru leaking it really wouldn't matter whether you put in before or after new tank. My buddy's mechanics in Reno, NV swear by the Seafoam and recommend putting half a can or so in tank about every 6 months. So definitely, half a can in tank, half in crankcase. I even put a few squirts in the transmission and overdrive and they both work better. I put half a can in the automatic ****** in my '71 Ranchero and made a big improvement.
 
55 ford said:
Thanks George, some one else gave me the same advice. Only suggested marvelous mystery oil . I'm gonna try the sea foam . Got a new gas tank to install should I use the sea foam first before installing the tank ? After 2 gal of gas the old tank leaks.
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Go ahead and use the Seafoam but the day before pour about 4-5 ounces of Marvel into the #7 spark plug hole and let it sit overnight to free up the stuck rings.
 
White "smoke" that disappears quickly could be a blown head gasket. Usually shows up as 2 side by side cylinders, but who knows. Any water in oil? Also, try a cooling system pressure check to see if it holds pressure. Failing that may also point to a head gasket, or, gulp, crack.
 
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