Dump some Dextron transmission fluid in the cylinder and let it sit a couple weeks. ATF eats rust, I've freed a couple of completly stuck pistons that way.

 

hmm sounds like a good idea. thanks ill give it a shot this week.

 

You can fill the cylinder with diesel fuel and let it soak. After a few days or weeks of that, try towing (dragging) it in gear to see if it will break loose.

It looks like a great truck.

 

Nice truck, Great starting point either way you decide to go


Bobby

 

Right. That's a flathead motor. Pulling the 'head' on that engine is not such a big deal.

I'd pull the head and get a razor blade and scrape the rust off the walls of the cylinder. Then use a piece of 2x4 and a hammer to dislodge the piston. PB Blaster is a pretty good penetrant. Spray some around the edge of the piston.

 

Probably the easiest motor to pull a head on. Just undo the head bolts and pull it off.

 

Got both heads off now. cleaned up all the external rust.
- Carb works great and is in excellent condition
- Generator works
- Starter whines but i guess a gear is busted on it somewhere.
- Distributer is in perfect condition

I will be going out tomorrow to try and unstick that piston. I will try that 2x4 trick however it seems the piston is stuck at the bottom of its intake cycle. So i dont know how much play i have to push it down any further.

 

An alternative to beating the heack out of th e2x4 with a hammer is to wrap a chain around the engine and place a small botle jack on top of the 2x4 and the apply a slow steady pressure to the piston. Of course if its at the bottom of its travel this won't help a bit.
Good luck with it. I freed up a 360ci years ago and drove it for years after that without a rebuild.

Bobby

 

You did well to get the heads removed. I think all the 49-53 flatheads had bolts rather than studs. I pulled the heads off of studs once. If you can get the studs out of the block, it is not bad. If you have to pull the heads over the studs, it is tough, especially when there is a lot of corrosion.

I would still try dragging it in gear. Do it on pavement, so you can get some traction. I too have gotten a lot of service from an engine that was once frozen. If you can get it started, you can evaluate the need for a rebuild. With such low miles, you might be good to go.

Maybe you can try Bobby's bottle jack technique on a piston that is higher in the cylinder. Any piston should turn the crank and force that low piston up.

Questions: How do you know that the carb and generator work, if you have not run the engine? How do you know that the distributor is in perfect condition?