Enigine work

dubnutty

dubnutty

Member
Got this '29 Wagon in garage. Now let's see what's inside.
 

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As bad as that looked when I first looked, you need to use a putty knife and scrape off the carbon to see what you really have. At first glance I was wondering how the valves, deck, and piston tops were so corroded, but the cylinder walls were OK? It didn't take long to realize I was looking at loose rust and carbon.
 
Looks like Spiderman visited the open valve.

The pitted stud behind the valve was probably installed by someone who had a chance to legally vote for Woodrow Wilson.

On a serious note, most sincere thanks for taking the time to post such an educational photo that one does not see often ....... this engine may just need cleaning ..... one never knows from just a photo..
 
Chauvin, GOOD on Ya! I cleaned it up. I'll post new picture tomorrow. It's got to be 115 degrees in the garage now. I found a lot of flaky rust in coolant passages. Anyone know a good way to get it out of there?
 
Your beer will never stay cold at 115 degrees ...... what is your roof covering material ... what is your roof structure .... do you have ceiling joists and/or a ceiling?

With head off, why not:

1. Oil tops of pistons and cylinders; and,

2. Make a simple engine holding frame with 2x4's; and,

3. Turn your engine upside down with pistons facing the ground; and,

4. Make a water-tight hose attachment to water inlet; and,

5. Turn on the water and flush it out.

Just hope this helps.
 
Take an old speedomter cable and spread the end to make a small brush of sorts or coat hanger and bend the end about 90* and chuck it in a drill so you can mechanically remove most of the flaking rust. Then use compressed air to blow into each opening. Blowing with the engine upside down would be best, but be sure to wear goggles and a dust mask.

Then with the block right side up and the inlet blocked you could fill the block with Evaporust and let it work for a couple days.
 
Tom, I'm going to try the cable trick and blow gun. If I do decide to pull the engine out, will this bolt up to a regular engine stand? I've got one but was thinking to much stress on bellhousing area. I'd sure like to turn this over to get all the junk out of passages. I've got to buy a new radiator and I don't want to plug it up.
 
I don't like to bolt them off the rear, but use the adaptor like the dealers sell and bolt the block off the side water inlet and 2 pan bolt holes.
 
I got the head surface cleaned up. The bores seem clean the valve are a little pitted but all seem ok. Now it's time to knock out pistons. I got one thru three to move up. Number four is stuck solid. I did notice as the pistons moved up the bore they seem to just stop solid the sound of the tapping changed. I knocked back down a little and tried again. Same sound same result. They stop about 3/4" before the top. I stopped today because it's now about 110 degrees in the garage. So this will have to commence, later on in the week. Thanks for any suggestions or input on this.
 

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Push them down not up. There is almost certainly a wear ridge at the level of the top ring at TDC and if you force them past this you will probably break a ring and do lots more damage as well.
 
The piston is probably stopping because of the worn ridge.You can probably feel it. There is a neat little gizmo called a ridge reamer to help with that.
 
Mike, I really don't want to remove the crank. The engine is still in the car. I felt the bores for the usual top ridge but this thing feels smooth on all four bores. I guess I could try a ridge reamer. What is the deck height on Model A engines? Does the piston travel flush with the top of the block? I just wanted to unstick this thing but things are looking like a rebuild is around the bend. I'm not so sure if this block is rebuildable. There is a lot of rust in the water jacket passages.
 
Once the pistons are out, you can soak the block with vinegar or evaporust and should clean up a good deal of the rust.

Mix up ATF and acetone 50/50 and put on top of stuck piston.

Paul in CT
 
The cars been sitting since 1959. It's been outdoors and from what I can remember what my Dad said was that he stopped driving because of radiator issues. The tag on the plate says 1959.
 
If they are stopping 3/4" from top of bore as in pic, it isn't from a normal ridge as the Pistons wouldn't be meeting TDC of the cylinder. You'll find you can't remove them out the bottom...
 
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