Ok, so I have the siezed 360 on the stand. The exhaust manifolds are off (do NOT ask how many top bolts I snapped).

The water pump is off, the valve covers and the rocker arm assemblies are off, so while I am waiting for the penetrating oil in the cylinders to do it's thing, I thought I would remove the intake. Of course 9 of the 10 bolts came loose just fine, but the head on the 10th bolt is just corroded enough to be incompatable with any socket known to man - so I will be going to see if I can get one of those handy-dandy sockets you see advertised by Bob Vila that will fit anything and see if it works.

But that's not my real problem!

I took the distributor hold down off and the dang dizzy seems to be stuck. Anyone have a "never fail" method for getting one of these out?

Dad always said; "Don't force it - get a bigger hammer".

 

You're better off using either vice grips or a chisel and breaking the head off. You're going to tear motor apart anyway so you should be able to get remaining bolt out of head. Heck if it is accessible try grinding the head off, then lift intake off and then use vise grips.

As for stuck distributor , what a pain. Most time they are just broke off and you get to buy a replacement. If you can get intake loose, then swing it around and start spraying WD40 on the block/dist. and wait for it to loosen up. The aluminum has corroded and now "welded" itself to the block. Typical.

Good Luck
Larry

 

Mine had a really bad attitude so it got the BFH treatment and subsequently I got to buy a new dizzy.

 

It's been my experience that if the engine is seized the distributor won't come out. The distributor has curved gears that mesh with curved gears on the (brainfart) cam? So unless the cam rotates the distributor will not come out easily.

 

I've gotta disaggree with you on that one, rrawlins. I just had my distributor out and in without having to move the camshaft. If the distributor is seized maybe, and even in that case, you just twist the distributor housing if there's room, and in that case, you need a new distributor anyway.

 

Douche the dist case at the intake with a penetrant, ands spray the sahft also. Then pull hard. I recall having to tap with a hammer before on the reall stubborn ones.

 

I had one stuck so bad I had to get a long screw driver and hit the dist from the bottom. It was on a 351c.

 

I think you have caused your own binding problem unwittingly. Here's how: When you pulled the bolts from the intake you caused the distrulater to bind. Now if you try putting the bolts back in and tighten them down the dizzy should come out . Don't ask me how I know 'cause you have probably already guessed.

 

a four foot pry bar will pop that beast out so the hammer doesn't have to break anything. If your using a hammmer and a crowbar with no results there's something wrong.... Which means an even bigger prying device is needed

 

I had a stuck one on a big mrec once and we tried everything. We even put the cherry picker on it and had the front wheels of the car off the ground. It seems like we ended up busting it with a sledge hammer.

 

This is kind of long-winded, sorry...

Well, I got the dizzy out last night. I don't know if the penetrating oil did it or re-tightening the intake bolts, but when I tapped it with a hammer, it actually moved a bit. So I kept tapping the vacuum (modulator ?) back and forth - I am not worried about saving the dist. as you might guess. Then I used a couple of large wrenches, one on either side, and using the intake as the fulcrum, pryed upwards. This loosened it some more, but popped the housing that holds the points, etc. off the shaft, so I could not tap on the vacuum thingy anymore.

I grabbed the shaft down close to the intake with a pair of vise-grips, and twisted it back and forth and it finally popped up and out.

I purchased a small bolt and nut extractor set from Sears, which worked on the one disintegrating bolt head, and the intake is also off. The cork gasket had been used on the intake, so it was a simple matter to drive a flat-bladed screwdriver through it between the manifold and the block, and presto-changeo, off it came!

I still cannot get the motor to turn, I have had the pistons soaking in penetrating oil for about 12 days, and I have been working on the balancer bolt with a breaker bar with no success so far. Is it possible for me to twist that bolt head off? I keep leaning all my weight on the bar, and I'm afraid I'll snap it and then be up the proverbial creek.

All of the lifters but two are free in their bores, and I have managed to lift up a couple until they were almost out, but they didn't want to come peacefully the rest of the way, and I didn't want to fight it anymore, so that'll be a chore for another time.

Thanks for the help and advice!

 

As for breaking the balancer bolt.........it's a 3/4" thread so it is pretty tough, but NOT unbreakable.

Since the intake is off, I'd pull the heads too. Might as well. You can then see which piston is rusted the worst and maybe some "persuading" with a mallet will get it moving. You got it apart this far, might as well do it all.

Larry

 

Oh, it's coming apart all the way down to the block. This engine came out of a parts truck, so it's just a plaything for now.

I just would like to see if I can get it loose before I take the heads off. It's easier to keep the penetrant on the pistons from evaporating that way.

Should I take the balancer off, pull the timing chain and gears, and see about removing the spacer? My other thought is to turn the thing over and attack the crank from below with the PB Blaster.....

You should have seen all the crap in this thing - mouse nests in the exhaust manifolds (they got in through a rust hole in the exhaust pipe), mouse nest on the valley pan (the carb was gone), looks like they were living down in the head as well. There was quite a cozy little nest in the bell housing (the starter was gone). When I drained the oil pan, I had quite a bit of what looked like hair in the oil. I had to reach in with a coat hanger and pull this stuff out. I wonder if a few of them didn't get past an open valve and die in the oil.... The fuel pump was also scavenged from the motor, so I'm expecting to see another nest when I pull the timing cover.

Talk about a rat motor.......