Rebuilt Motor stuck

diggidy said:
A friend has a '29 roadster pickup that he had the motor rebuilt in 2006, and it had been sitting out of the car wrapped in plastic since. He asked me to install it and get it running. I was worried about it being wrapped in plastic all of these years, but it appeared to be clean and rust free. I assembled everything in the truck and when I went to turn it over with the hand crank, it is stuck tight. It won't budge at all. I'm assuming that the rings have stuck from sitting. I put Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders, but after a few days, it still won't budge. I knew that a new rebuild would be tight, but this one is really stuck. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I had a newly rebuild engine "stuck" after installing it. I don't know if this is your problem, but this is what was going on with mine. The valves were way too tight in their guides. I removed them and used valve lapping compound to "lap" the valves to their guides until they fit perfectly (making sure they were completely clean before reassembly). The engine ran perfectly after that.
 
I never heard of a Model A snapping a camshaft, but I know first hand that an air cooled Wisconsin will snap the cam shaft if you try to turn the engine over with a stuck valve. Back in the 80's I had to repair one for a farmer after the valve stuck from setting over winter. Stuck exhaust valves were somewhat common on these Wisconsin engines if the engine wasn't pickled in the fall.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
I never heard of a Model A snapping a camshaft, but I know first hand that an air cooled Wisconsin will snap the cam shaft if you try to turn the engine over with a stuck valve. Back in the 80's I had to repair one for a farmer after the valve stuck from setting over winter. Stuck exhaust valves were somewhat common on these Wisconsin engines if the engine wasn't pickled in the fall.
Click to expand...

I have been there also, in my Dads garage back in 50=60ts. Farmers would bring there Wisconsin VE4 off there hay balers or combine in with the valves stuck. Some times they tired to fix it there self and had broken the head bolts off. Sure do not like taking out broken head bolts. A couple of times they had broken the cam shaft like Tom said.
 
Last edited:
Agreed, Purdy's advice is good . soak the valves with manifold removed
If you have kroil etc that should help . I would suggest looking into the cylinders to see what they look like . They are probably ok unless there is moisture, rust, or corrosion on the cylinder walls

Good luck!
Larry
 
Yes,
Check the valves, and don't tow it before you do, I have seen cases where people did
this and broke the lifter bores right out of the block when the valves or lifters were stuck.
There is a lot of force with the cam trying to lift the lifter.
Rust down a cylinder will let a piston move in one direction until it sticks then
turn back the other way until it does it again.
 
This thread is EXACTLY why my warranty is 90 days. People will have their motor built, many times when the money is available, or just while waiting for paint or body work and, store the fresh motor in the most horrendous conditions imagined. If you want to know what can happen to a motor in just 30 days, leave a bag of potato chips opened it your cabinet for that long and try to eat even one. Moisture can and will get into anything and cause damage that will ruin ANYTHING that needs to stay dry.

Best to disassemble the engine and find out why it won't move. If it is just put up too tight, it can be adjusted. If it is rusted, it needs the rust cleaned off or, it will cause irreparable damage.
 
FWIW: Another experience from years ago.

To add to what Mr. Rogers stated in his excellent fresh potato chip parable, I have seen where the two (2) large Army Depots in Nevada & Alabama have an expensive solution for assembled engine storage, especially when engines are stored for long periods, or are sent overseas in a humid salt environment.

They place jeep & tank engines in re-usable reinforced olive drab fiberglass containers with horizontal thick rubber sealed joints, draw a vacuum within the engine container, & periodically monitor the vacuum gauge mounted on top of the container. If the container leaks, they open & reseal same & draw a subsequent vacuum.

On TV, we see plastic wrap vacuum devices advertising for storing meat in a freezer; but don't cross your fingers yet ........ it is doubtful that they will soon make a vacuum device to seal & store our assembled Model A engines -- but who knows?
 
If you think the problem is in the valve/lifters remove a timing gear on the front of the motor and see if the pistons move.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top