Seized 59AB Engine - Solutions

dbtenner

dbtenner

Member
I’ve received a crusty 59AB engine that may have sat for 30 years or more. I’m curious what your solutions are to trying to unfreeze it...

My logic is to pour half kerosene half ****** fluid into each spark hole. Then take a counter weight near the prop and see if this fluid helps free up the o rings at the piston and intake exhaust valves. Once the counterweight hits the ground it’s free.


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Sounds good. Start soaking the head nuts now too. Once the heads are off, I've found that a baseball bat dowel blank is perfect for beating on a stuck piston.

I know many guys save as much as they can, but sometimes you need to balance your time v. the cost. Meaning, red wrench saves a lot of time and effort in getting things out you'll replace more than likely.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.
 
This engine looks like it was sitting out in the weather. With no
carb on it water was down in the cylinders. Your not going to
get this engine to turn and I would bet you will have to break
the pistons to get them out. Worth about $.10 a lb. G.M.
 
As said above I'd soak the head bolts, manifold bolts and starter bolts. I'd use a 50/50 mixture of acetone and ****** fluid. I would get the heads, intake, and starter off before I tried to free up the engine since they're going to have to come off anyway. Who knows what my have gotten in to the cylinders since the carb is off. Also stuck valves are a real possibility so you don't want to bend one trying to get it to turn over. Patience is your friend. If all else fails look up GB lighting a flathead on fire to free it up.
 
That starter sure doesn't look good at all. If there wasn't any oil in the pan, this one may not even disassemble. Get the wrenches out and look under the heads.
 
As most have said, you may not be able to save much here. However - that appears to be a 59Y block. Per Rumbleseat's files this was usually industrial, factory relieved, and possibly harder/tougher block. A rare block. Well worth trying to save the block to be built. I've run across many variations of the 59 blocks and currently have three 59L blocks with factory reliefs among others. I've never seen a 59Y block in person.

Likely this will be a job that will include the flame wrench.
 
If no carb GM is correct. If was indoors or intake sealed my dad showed me 50 years ago sitting on ground fill cylinders & intake with diesel let soak the hit starter with 12 volts will either turn over or break ring gear. If breaks ring gear so what I it’s going to have to come apart anyway. Freed up many this way as a youngster. Put 40,000 miles on one after freeing it up. Good luck.
 
KiWinUS said:
If no carb GM is correct. If was indoors or intake sealed my dad showed me 50 years ago sitting on ground fill cylinders & intake with diesel let soak the hit starter with 12 volts will either turn over or break ring gear. If breaks ring gear so what I it’s going to have to come apart anyway. Freed up many this way as a youngster. Put 40,000 miles on one after freeing it up. Good luck.
Click to expand...

That's great!
 
51504bat said:
As said above I'd soak the head bolts, manifold bolts and starter bolts. I'd use a 50/50 mixture of acetone and ****** fluid. I would get the heads, intake, and starter off before I tried to free up the engine since they're going to have to come off anyway. Who knows what my have gotten in to the cylinders since the carb is off. Also stuck valves are a real possibility so you don't want to bend one trying to get it to turn over. Patience is your friend. If all else fails look up GB lighting a flathead on fire to free it up.
Click to expand...

Hey yeah first thing I thought of was a GB SISSON cookout.


Seeing the cut hoses makes me wonder if the intake had a hood for cover.
 
I'd say you have zero chance of freeing that up by soaking it. Pull the oil pan and check for cracks around the pan rail area. It might be cracked beyond repair in that area. I have one like that. If it is cracked just salvage off it whatever you can. If ok then pull the heads and assess the top end.

If the block looks ok then there are severe means to strip them down.

You might want to check my videos. I just finished a 59A teardown and rebuild. You might see what you might be up against.

Go to youtube and search for Mart's Garage. You will find links to the videos there.

Mart.
 
If it was to me, pull the heads. maybe split the nuts.
Check for rusty holes. If it's bad, you'll be taking it apart anyhow.
No use breaking stuff.

Karl
 
This will be a major project. Before I spent any time on it, I would pull the pan and see what the pan rails look like and the bottom side in general. Then I'd pull the heads to see how bad things look. Decide if it is even worth screwing with.

If so, then I'd take a drill with a wire brush and clean all the block areas that you can between the valves and the bores. If you find obvious cracks, then you can decide if you want to go further. My guess is that at the very least you'll be doing some "cutting, drilling and smacking" to get it apart . . . be prepared for a LOT of work. :)
 
Yep, a cracked pan rail would be a stopper. If pistons grow too much corrosion, they should be taken out in pieces with a hole saw. I've seen what south Texas will do to a motor that has set out and they are usually boat anchors if too much water got in. East Texas might even be worse. If it's from the panhandle or way out west then just maybe it can be saved. I wouldn't get my hopes up too high.

Some old codgers would fill the engine and water jackets with old motor oil. If someone did that then it might have a chance but water is heavier than oil so it goes right to the bottom.
 
If it were me I'd give it a try. Worst case scenario you're out the $ and it failed. No harm in trying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 
Soak the crap out of it. Time is your friend, till you find the insides are as bad as the outside or not. :) Peal the onion.

Starter looks like it was in the dirt for a while, easy fix.



I'd maybe start with intake, heads and pan before the BBQ. Best of luck.






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Wait till you find one where the pistons have started to exfoliate. They will literally grow so much that you can bend the cylinder walls trying to remove them. I'm not much of a pyro and too impatient to wait. I just cut a hole through on the high side then use an air chisel to knock enough out to where it will move by hand. The old exfoliated pistons will come right out if you give them some room to move in the bore.
 
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