<VV> Freeing a stuck motor.

[Hugo Miller]

How on earth did it get that bad? Wrist pins also? Did it run right out 
of oil or was it used as a boat anchor?


On 2018-06-20 10:44, roboman91324--- via VirtualVairs wrote:
> Ignacio,
>
>  
> I have worked on more than a few motors over the years and some have
> been seized.  The worst was a turbo motor for my '66 Corsa.  
>  
> First, to explain the comment about the square inches and piston
> surface area.  If the piston's surface area is 8 square inches and 
> the
> air pressure is 150 PSI (pounds per square inch) the total force on
> the head of the piston will be 8 sq. in. x 150 PSI = 1200 pounds of
> force on the piston.  Assuming all 6 pistons are seized (a good
> assumption) 1200 pounds will probably not do the job depending on the
> severity of the seizure. In addition, you will only have a chance at
> success if you choose a piston that is approximately in the middle of
> its travel in the cylinder.  If the piston is at the top or bottom of
> travel, air pressure in the cylinder will have no effect.  The
> connecting rod bearing journal must be at a right angle to the force
> applied to allow the piston to have the major torque on the 
> crankshaft
> and allow the system to move.  Take off the oil pan and/or top cover
> to see which piston to use.  Matt suggested removing the rockers to
> guarantee the valves will be seated.  If a valve is even a tiny bit
> open, the air pressure will escape.
>  
> Here is my ordeal.
>  
> I bought the motor to replace an incorrect 140 in my Corsa.  It came
> from the factory as a Turbo car.  I didn't look at the motor before I
> bought it because it was in Chicago and I am in LA.  The numbers on
> the crankcase indicated it was proper for engine type and date of
> manufacture for my car.  I trusted the seller because we got together
> on the deal here on VV.  I shouldn't have trusted him as it turns
> out..  Among other things, he claimed the motor spun freely.  Since I
> was going to do a complete rebuild anyway, that was fine.  The 
> reality
> is that I have never seen an engine more solidly seized.
>  
> I tried the breaker bar that people mentioned.  I tried the breaker
> bar in combination with a strap wrench on the damper and nothing
> worked.  I didn't use compressed air.
>  
> I put the motor on an engine stand and removed the heads, oil pan and
> top.  This gave me access to both the top and bottom of the
> cylinders.  I turned the motor sideways on the stand and squirted
> different solvents at different times into the tops and bottoms of
> each cylinder.  Those cylinders facing up got the solvents to the top
> of the piston and those facing down got the solvents to the bottom of
> the piston.  I let it soak for a day and then turned the motor the
> other way to get to the tops and bottoms of the other set of 
> pistons. 
> This went on for a couple of weeks without success.
>  
> I decided to dismantle the engine.  I tried to remove the rod caps so
> I could remove each piston and cylinder as an assembly.  Because the
> engine had seized in exactly the wrong position, I could only get to
> some of the nuts for the rod caps.  I did remove two piston/cylinder
> assemblies this way but the remaining four cylinders were still
> seized.  Because I couldn't get to the remaining nuts with a socket 
> or
> wrench, I had to resort to using an abrasive wheel.  By the way, once
> the two piston/cylinder assemblies were removed, it gave me access to
> a couple more nuts through the open holes but even one nut in place 
> on
> a rod cap is enough to prevent removal.
>  
> Once I had all six piston/cylinder assemblies out, I had to separate
> one from the other.  I used my hydraulic press.  With a couple
> assemblies, it was difficult setting them up on the press because the
> wrist pins had seized too and the rods had frozen sideways.  Keep in
> mind that frozen piston rings are only part of the problem.  Wrist
> pins, rod bearings and main journal bearings can get stuck too.  I 
> had
> to push the press to its limit and when the rings released, it 
> sounded
> like a small caliber pistol shot.  Of course, the pistons and rods
> were trash but I sent the cylinders off to a vendor to be
> resurrected.  
>  
> I could bitch about other things the guy who sold me the motor did
> but those are stories that are not pertinent to seized motors.
>  
> With all that, I ended up with the proper crankcase for my car,
> rebored cylinders, a rebuildable turbo and carb, the proper
> distributor, etc.  Because of the way the seller shipped it, there 
> was
> damage to other components but nothing that couldn't be fixed or
> replaced.  All-in-all, even if the seller is a member of VV, I will
> never buy a motor, car or other significant part remotely unless the
> individual is truly trusted or someone I trust inspects the unit in
> question.
>  
> I hope this helps.
>  
> Good luck Ignacio
>  
> Doc
> '60 Corvette; '61 Rampside; '62 Rampside, '64 Spyder coupe, '65
> Greenbrier; '66 Canadian Corsa coupe; '67 Nova SS; '68 Camaro ragtop;
> '70 3/4 ton Chevy C20 pickup plus a couple other non-Chevy vehicles
> ... forgive me
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  
> In a message dated 6/20/2018 5:55:47 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:
>
>  
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:28:11 -0500
> From: Ignacio Valdes <ivaldes at hal-pc.org>
> To: Virtual Vairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> Subject: <VV> Freeing a stuck motor.
> Message-ID:
>  <CANPWqJFfZWdREwCz3pegPsrVg=Ywip30zw_v7EJKRN40QmsejQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Hi, I am giving the old college try for a 1964 stuck motor that was 
> given
> to me for 'free'. It is out of the car on the floor. A 3/4 inch 
> wrench on
> the harmonic balancer bolt head does not make it budge. The starter 
> is bad.
> I pulled the plugs and poured a gallon of ATF into the spark plug 
> holes
> today. How long should I wait and are there any other ways of trying 
> to get
> it moving other than the bolt head on the harmonic balancer? -- IV
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