Seized engine-hoping for a miracle!

[Terri Smith]

Hi,

I picked up a 63 GT Hawk with a seized V8 engine yesterday. I am hoping that I might be able to break it free. I removed the spark plugs and sprayed the cylinders with lube, now I am going to wait a couple of days to see if it will loosen up. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Terri

[Dan Timberlake]

It does not take much rust to hold things tight. I'd try PB Blaster but some report success with Mystery Oil. I'd try to Turn crank hard righty clockwise, not so hard lefty loosey back and forth a dozen times every now and then.
Can you get a peek at the cylinder walls thru the plug hole? If there's much rust at all the ring seal will be terrible even if you manage to get it free.

Might make it, although I'v feel better bout removing the rust with the head off -

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r156/lockednatrunk/Stock%20Talon%202-16-08/DSC00077.jpg

This one's bad -

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SG5qX-hCr9g/SE9chSNdNxI/AAAAAAAAAEo/ogPWUemJHW8/05.B20a_Cylinder_3_Rust_B.jpg

[Jeff_H]

If you have a lot of patience, fill the cylinders with ATF or penetrating oil of your choice and let it sit for a couple of months. If it does move a little after soaking for a time, resist temptation to see if it will turn fully. Let it sit for another week and try moving it a little more in the opposite direction. Rinse and repeat till it does turn easily.

Of course this only works if its just some lite rust in the cylinders. Something more serious like if the engine was full of water for 20yrs or had some internal damage probably not

I bought a car at a junkyard "clearance" sale about 10yrs ago and it had been sitting for 20yrs in the yard with the air cleaner off. After a winter soaking I got it freed up and actually had it running badly on about 5 cylinders. Several stuck valves bent the pushrods.

Jeff in ND

'53 Champion Hardtop

[rockne10]

As long as internal damage is not the issue you can get lucky.

When I bought my 1960 Lark it had been sitting outside for twelve years.
I poured Marvel Mystery Oil in to each cylinder and let it sit for a few weeks. Then I removed the starter and used a pry-bar against the ring gear. This was tedious but very gentle to the internals. Completely rotated crank about a dozen times before returning the starter, changing the oil and cranking by ignition.

Drove that car until it rusted away![V]

Brad Johnson
Pine Grove Mills, Pa.
'33 Rockne 10, '51 Commander Starlight, '53 Commander Starlight

[Flashback]

I just freed a 53 and a 55 v8. Use a 50-50 mixture of acetone and
auto trans fluid. remove the plugs. Fill cylinders and let stand for
a couple of days. You may have to remove the starter and turn a very
small amount back and fourth to start with. Be sure to spin over and get all the liquid out before trying to start.

Tex E. Grier

[buddymander]

First: find out which intake valves are open. Shoot air in the spark plug holes and listen at the carb. These will be your worst cylinders. Providing there is an exhaust system, the cylinders with open exhaust valves will be in the "next worst" category.I would spray wd4o in all the other cylinders and then concentrate on the condition of those cylinders deemed worst. If you can see surface rust in any cylinders, put some diluted battery acid in them. Leave it in there for about three hours. If you c an get a webcam to the spark plug hole you might have a better chance of viewing the condition more clearly. With the carb off, run a tiny bulb down the intake runner. Try to determine which direction you should turn the engine that would bring these worst cylinder's pistons downward. Rust is the enemy, and if your engine has it on the cylinders, a petroleum based product will barely have an effect on it. You don't want the rings to scrape it off because it can get in the grooves and cause the rings to stick. You're going to have to flush out the lubricant before the acid can do its job. Use acetone or lacquer thinner.

[jackb]

Once had a flat 6 with stuck engine. Pulled the head and soaked the cyls with ATF. Broke it loose. Replaced head and drove car for a few thousand miles. Rebuilt engine to find sveral pistons cracked and with destroyed lands.....takes your chances.....

[Kurt]

The last "stuck" engine I dealt with had a critter nest in the bellhousing. Once clesned out, it turned. Point is, don't assume anything.

[sbca96]

We got a OHV Lark started by doing Marvel Mystery Oil for a week and
then rolling it down an incline and letting out the clutch. Then it
would turn with the starter. It would start if you primed it, but it
would die after running for a few seconds. We thought it was the fuel
pump, when I got it started again, I instantly brought the RPMs up as
far as I could get it (maybe 2500 rpm) with good oil pressure I wasnt
afriad of damage. I saw my brother (who was standing behind the car)
laughing his butt off. Once it would idle, I walked back. Some mice
had made a nest in the muffler/tailpipe and plugged the pipe with the
stuff they brought in. There were bones and fur from the abandoned
nest. Must have been a Motel 6 for rodents.

Tom

'63 Avanti, zinc plated drilled & slotted 03 Mustang Cobra 13" front disc/98 GT rear brakes, 03 Cobra 17" wheels, GM alt, 97 Z28 leather seats, soon: TKO 5-spd, Ported heads w/SST full flow valves, 'R3' 276 cam, Edelbrock AFB Carb, GM HEI distributor, 8.8mm plug wires

[cortica37]

An easy way to turn the engine over if you have manual transmission and an operating clutch is to jack up the rear end, place the transmission in high gear, and rotate the passenger side rear wheel. Simple and lots of torque.

Cork, Mpls., MN
1940 Champion De Luxe Cruising Sedan

[mtdoraford]

If you have working brakes, fill the cylinders with ATF and a rust lubricant, put a tow chain to the car. Then put it in gear and pull it out of the garage or about 50'. Something will brake loose! Trying rocking the car back and forth while in gear to brake the engine loose, first. Automatic 2nd gear, stick shift 3rd gear first.

Rebuilding the engine can be very costly for parts, if your on a fixed budget.

[rockne10]

My Rockne sat in a garage for thirty-one years. I did the Mystery Oil soak for a month and put a tow chain on the front axle. It broke loose in a few feet with a deafening "BANG". I felt certain I would find the block in at least two pieces. I didn't, and I've put 1600 miles on it since then.

Brad Johnson
Pine Grove Mills, Pa.
'33 Rockne 10, '51 Commander Starlight, '53 Commander Starlight

[cortica37]

I'm not familiar with Studebaker automatics. Will the engine turn over if the car is pulled or pushed? I thought most, if not all, automatics need to have their engine-driven front pump operating in order to engage the transmission. Just curious.

Cork, Mpls., MN
1940 Champion De Luxe Cruising Sedan

[Tom Bredehoft]

The rear pump was designed out/removed after Studebaker quit building cars. Their automatics can be push started. I'm not sure a torque converter is up to turning a frozen engine, though.

[img=left]http://www.alink.com/personal/tbredehoft/Avatar1.jpg[/img=left]
Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
(Under Construction 442 hrs.)
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[JDP]

You could not push start the Flight-O-Matics, no rear pump.

JDP/Maryland
"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
Thomas Jefferson