Saving a rusty seized engine

[Dreamcatcher]

I saved one by pulling the heads spraying pb blaster and tapping each piston daily with a block of wood and a hammer. After a couple days work the crank with a breaker bar.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Thought you just wanted the block, my misunderstanding.

 

[andyf]

Team,

So what are your thoughts on saving a rusty engine? The motor in the '67 Coronet is sezed pretty hard. Took the all the pull offs on the front of the motor, intake and carb ect. Valve covers are off and the exhaust manifolds ect. Been using Marvel Mystery oil per cylinder and Seafom Deep Creep on the rods and bearing ect. I see a lot bright metal on all the cam bearings and some surface rust on the rods and lifters...but not too bad. Got the harmonic off and threw a crank socket on these with the 18" breaker bar, but no movement. Also pulled the dizzy and got a lot of lube in there.....trying to save this motor, as she is pretty low mile. 52k original.

Depends on what you mean by save. You can knock it apart and perhaps reuse the block but it depends on how bad the rust is. You aren't going to be able free it up and drive it like a new car though. If the rings have rusted to the bores then it isn't going to be "saved". You might be able to make it run but it won't run great. Be a smoker if nothing else.

 

[MCODECUDA]

I just took a stuck motor apart on the engine stand. A couple of the cylinders were rusty and pitted so I filled the cylinders with evaporust and let it set 24 hours. I still wasn’t able to turn the crank but I was able to get 6 pistons out of it. I removed the rod caps from the two remaining frozen pistons, removed the main caps and pulled out the crank. I was then able to pound the two remaining pistons out. Now the block will probably need two sleeves but that will be cheaper than trying to source a new block.

 

[Durandal25]

Well, got he heads off, and broke only one bolt.... guess which one, and why.....hehe

 

[Don Frelier]

First one, tightened instead of loosened.
Just guessing.

 

[Sebring]

Team,

So what are your thoughts on saving a rusty engine? The motor in the '67 Coronet is sezed pretty hard. Took the all the pull offs on the front of the motor, intake and carb ect. Valve covers are off and the exhaust manifolds ect. Been using Marvel Mystery oil per cylinder and Seafom Deep Creep on the rods and bearing ect. I see a lot bright metal on all the cam bearings and some surface rust on the rods and lifters...but not too bad. Got the harmonic off and threw a crank socket on these with the 18" breaker bar, but no movement. Also pulled the dizzy and got a lot of lube in there.....trying to save this motor, as she is pretty low mile. 52k original.

l always got told as s young guy if an engine was seized to dump the entire engine into a vat of diesel and let it sit there soaking.9 times out of 10 its supposed to work lve never tried it personally but l thought id put it out there anyway lm sure someone else has either tried it or heard of it

 

[Durandal25]

First one, tightened instead of loosened.
Just guessing.

....nailed it

 

[MCODECUDA]

....nailed it

Were you able to get the broken bolt out?

 

[Durandal25]

Were you able to get the broken bolt out?

.....have not tried it yet. Was just getting to other projects on it until I free up the pistons. Just adding a bit of Comp Cams assembly lube to the cam and lifters to get them protected ect. Seems to be going fine, will just have to be patient to let the Deep Creep do its bit. Going to make custom piston-tapper today to work on just the edge of the piston. Lots of positive posts on here. Much appreciated.

 

[Durandal25]

.....so as a sign that all is great in the Mopar universe, the busted head bolt, back left rear, presented a challenge that I was honestly not looking forward to this morning......but, as fate would have it, after soaking it in Deep Creep for 24 hrs.....it was finger tight....and came out in 3 seconds. I had a beer at 8:45 Sunday morning to celebrate. Is that too early?

 

[Don Frelier]

Well church is at 9:00 here so yes a little early. The bore looks pretty good on that cylinder

 

[MCODECUDA]

Do you see any rust in the cylinder? It could be something else that’s keeping it from turning.

 

[Durandal25]

Cylinders had some very minor surface rust. It just vanished with a wipe of a shop towel...but from what I've seen and heard, its the second set of rings that can take a bit to break loose. Adding a shot of Seafoam twice a day to keep the juices flowing, and milled out a fence post to tap the cylinder heads with. I expect it may take a few more weeks of persuasion.

 

[YY1]

Are you getting penetrating oil on the rings from the bottom, too?

IE rotating the block on the stand every few days and shooting the skirts.

 

[miller]

Cylinders had some very minor surface rust.

Just taking a wild guess, okay? Yep, piston rings rusted to the cylinders are a sure lockup. Usually the first to happen, even just with condensation inside the engine.
First thing I'd do, if you have the means, get the bore size of the block. If it's already .060 over...probably not worth fooling with.

Go easy with the block of wood...just tap, tap, to work the ring's rust loose. It will take time. Yeah, I've dealt with one like that.

 

[Durandal25]

Just taking a wild guess, okay? Yep, piston rings rusted to the cylinders are a sure lockup. Usually the first to happen, even just with condensation inside the engine.
First thing I'd do, if you have the means, get the bore size of the block. If it's already .060 over...probably not worth fooling with.

Go easy with the block of wood...just tap, tap, to work the ring's rust loose. It will take time. Yeah, I've dealt with one like that.

Good news on the bores too is that the car only has 53k original miles on here. Never been bored.

 

[miller]

A funny about seized engines.

Okay, it's not a V8...still a piston engine(s). B-25 radial engines.
On the B-25, I was a crewmember, though this was done, before I got onboard. In Florida, the 25 sat for several years, before being bought. Twin 14-cylinder radial engines...neither would turn over. What to do? Ha!
Guys told me, before being able to fly the dang thing out, had to get the engines running. They pumped hot varsol into both engines, for a week. Finally turned 'a little'. Used a pickup, nylon strap to one of the prop blades, and slowly pulled. Gently, but both engines finally rotated.
Fresh set of plugs, oil change, fired 'em up, and flew it home.

 

[Durandal25]

Are you getting penetrating oil on the rings from the bottom, too?

IE rotating the block on the stand every few days and shooting the skirts.

I believe I'll do that next. Been super gentle on her thus far. I'll drop the center link in the suspension to drop the pan

 

[Durandal25]

Pan off, and the bottom looks as good at the top...marinaded it up the skirt.....so to speak.