Flathead Friday. New project. Rusty Crusty Flatty. VIDEO.

RalphG said:
Mart, I'd say that rusty flathead has as good or better chance of getting unstuck than either of mine do. Its going on 4 years since I've been pouring various mxtures down the carb and spark plug holes of the 49 Mercury truck engine and there is still no sign of movement there. Coming up on two years that I've had the "headless" 53 Merc engine on the stand with acetone+atf in any holes that will hold it I think the only way these will move is by unbolting every fastener on them.
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Try using lots of heat and a well placed BFH. Time to get serious!
 
RalphG said:
Mart, I'd say that rusty flathead has as good or better chance of getting unstuck than either of mine do. Its going on 4 years since I've been pouring various mxtures down the carb and spark plug holes of the 49 Mercury truck engine and there is still no sign of movement there. Coming up on two years that I've had the "headless" 53 Merc engine on the stand with acetone+atf in any holes that will hold it I think the only way these will move is by unbolting every fastener on them.
Click to expand...

There was a thread on the "H.A.M.B." where they filled the valley with charcoal and ignited it. Then the put a piece of sheet metal over the whole thing, and after a couple of days, everything came loose.

Might be worth a try if all else fails.
 
Mart... I love a dragged home flathead video. It never gets old. I once had a factory relieved military block on a navy shipyard welder. I have never gotten over the fact that I gave it away because I "didn't think I'd get to it." The guys that are advising heat and plenty of it are right on in my opinion. This completely stuck engine is now a bare block with no sign of cracks. Hoping to build it 255 for the wagon.
 

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I have a holesaw the size of the bottom of the ring grooves on the outside of it i have a sleeve made of plastic to guide it an keep it from hitting the cyinderwalls.
You cut down enough to get by the rings and piston comes out in pieces.
A flathead has to come apart in a day...headstuds still the major headache..
 
Thanks Murre for the helpful suggestions. I've never tried that method. I will be getting the pistons out soon, I'm not really looking forward to it.

On an old English 21 stud I was able to knock the heads of the pistons off surprisingly easily by putting a metal bar up inside the piston and hitting from below. When I tried this on a 59A it was really difficult and didn't work well at all. I will give that a try first and see how it goes.

What I am worried about at the moment is getting the cam and followers out.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Mart.
 
Great video Mart...Love it. Great idea for engine stand modification.

Mart, can you just soak the whole block in MMO or something similar for several weeks to loosen???
 
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If everythng is real crusty and the block is basicly all you care for...
Boltcutter or plasmacutter down in the liftervalley and cut valvestems...turn it upside down...pound lifters up...get the cam out.
 
Another fine production Mart!!....does that piece of angle iron you lift the block with have gussets or some type of brace underneath to stop it from flexing?....I’ve got a dozen or 15 blocks to move around and tear into and that would make things a lot quicker than bolts and a piece of chain....always enjoy the videos......Mark
 
I can report the teardown is going well so far.
Valves. Out.
Crank. Out.
Rods and pistons. Out.
Lifters. Out
Cam. Out.

I was just saying to my son, the secret is applying just enough brute force to get it done.

I will be sharing the videos once edited up. I do have some good footage.

Studs next. that can get messy.

Mart.

PS the angle iron piece has no gussets. It's about 2-1/4 (probably 60mm) angle with a 1/4 or 6mm thickness. It's not going to flex, the blocks ain't that heavy.
 
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