The Merc

[RobWi]

I have a long center punch and drill bit I use to drill the crusty bolt heads out of there. If it's loose then a person needs long nose vise grips. I've not had to cut a water pump off yet.

If you want to insure it has a Merc 255 crank, pull the pan and measure across one of the counterweight cheeks. A 4-inch frank is 6.5" across the cheek. It has the characteristics of an EAC but there's only one way to really tell.

That has already been confirmed. It is a 1953 Mercury 255

 

[flatford8]

Just an update as far as the stuck intake valve on #6. After a week of soaking it (filled the intake port up with 50/50 ATF-acetone mix), I tapped the valve spring assembly with a small ball peen hammer. The valve dropped. All the valves now move effortlessly up and down with a crow bar. Pistons must still be locked... more soaking and will try again before taking the heads off.

I think you’ll be more successful freeing up the pistons if you pull the heads, set the block so the piston top is horizontal. Then you can use your penetrant mixture and get it flowing around the rings. Also, make sure the oil pump, distributor and oil pump idler gears aren’t binding up the rest of your engine………Mark

 

[RobWi]

I think you’ll be more successful freeing up the pistons if you pull the heads, set the block so the piston top is horizontal. Then you can use your penetrant mixture and get it flowing around the rings. Also, make sure the oil pump, distributor and oil pump idler gears aren’t binding up the rest of your engine………Mark

Thanks Mark, have removed the distributor, currently making sure all the valves are free. Have cylinders filled with ATF/Acetone. Still soaking the sludge in the valve valley with Mineral Spirits, the gunk is slowly turning into a slurry. Once the valley is clear, I will drain the pan and take it off. Quite sure there will be a ton of sludge in the pan and on the bottom too. Once all the sludge is gone I will put more effort on freeing up the frozen pistons.

 

[RobWi]

SUCCESS!

Have successfully removed the problem child water pump bolt that I could not get a decent bite on with a 12pt 9/16 socket.

Used a thin wall 6pt Snap On socket that is slightly undersized 9/16", actually measures 14.1 mm

 

[petehoovie]

SUCCESS!

Have successfully removed the problem child water pump bolt that I could not get a decent bite on with a 12pt 9/16 socket.

Used a thin wall 6pt Snap On socket that is slightly undersized 9/16", actually measures 14.1 mm

 

[RobWi]

Starting to dive into the '53 Merc. No luck on getting it to free up. so it is time to pull the heads and see what we have. My preparation consists of using a thread chaser on the spark plug threads and then installing M14 lug bolts for BMW's that utilize extra long lugs. This method works especially well on '48 and earlier engines with studs. On those, I had to screw the lugs down until I felt pressure or beginning to tighten, then I would bang the head on all four sides with a two pound plastic coated hammer. Retighten the lugs, and repeat as necessary. Have pictures of both

 

[RobWi]

Another update on the '53 EAC. Pulled both heads off the engine today, first time on a Mercury EAC and to be honest, first time on anything newer than a 59A. The 8BA that I had open came with the heads off. The current 8BA sitting on a cradle dolly under my bench, turns over so there is no reason as of right now to take the heads off of that.

Feared the worse, like when I tore down the maga cracked '47 59A, the '39 24 stud, and the '36 21 stud. All of those took weeks to get the heads off. Not this '53 Merc, they damn near fell off. That being said, the exposure to the cylinders was pretty enlightening. The initial inspection (steel wool, sand paper, emery cloth, and wiped with acetone did not reveal any noticeable cracking, including the so called "part number" cracks between the head bolts and deck water port. There appears to be the start of one between #1 and #2, but only magnafluxing will confirm.

When the head came off of the 5-8 side, I was a bit skeptical as to the #5 cylinder being filled with dirt... actual dirt! This engine supposedly never saw a junk yard, but somewhere in it's post running life it swallowed a cylinder full of dirt. Tried to clean out the bore to look for cracks, did not find any. But there is some pitting, how deep, have not ascertained yet. Overall, the 1-4 side looks pretty good, some rusty valves, but they all move just fine.

Engine still does not want to budge, more soaking and try again in a few days.