That has already been confirmed. It is a 1953 Mercury 255
The Merc
- Thread starter RobWi
- Start date
That has already been confirmed. It is a 1953 Mercury 255
flatford8
Well-known member
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.
petehoovie
Well-known member
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
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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.
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.
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Another update. Finally took the pan off, it was not too bad. Cleaned up the rails and there is no visible sign of rail cracks. It looks pretty good.
But... the oil pick up screen appears more like it sucked on a lemon. It is almost sucked inside out, is this common?
But... the oil pick up screen appears more like it sucked on a lemon. It is almost sucked inside out, is this common?
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Mart
Well-known member
Be careful if putting long bolts down through the plug holes. You will be pressing onto the exhaust valves. You might have some bent valves. Something you will need to check.
Well done getting the heads off though.
Re the oil pump screen: I don't know if it is common, but I have stripped down a few motors and I haven't seen that before.
Mart.
Well done getting the heads off though.
Re the oil pump screen: I don't know if it is common, but I have stripped down a few motors and I haven't seen that before.
Mart.
Bored&Stroked
Well-known member
The "dirty" cylinders are a result of a lot of water getting into the engine on that side. I'm sure there will be a lot of pitting, but there is usually a lot of room for an overbore. I've not seen the oil-pump screen do that before, it must have been really clogged (best guess).
Surprisingly, once cleaned out, those "dirty" cylinders have very little pitting. These are the two "dirtiest" once I cleaned them out
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I do not plan on saving the valves. Fortunately, have not bent them on this engine.
If someone would not have drilled a half inch hole in a perfectly good pan, I might have agreed with you. No indication of moisture in this engine... so far.