stuck motor

[nhusa]

15 years without being started on an unknown rebuild requires more than a bit of penetrating oil and a big wrench or hammer.

Remove the head, valve cover, and pan.
Then inspect things.
After that you can begin using penetrating oil - on the cylinder walls and valve guides.
I would also find a way to get oil into the bearings - maybe spin the oil pump with oil in the pan.

You have no clue about what the rebuilder did or did not do.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by nhusa

I would also find a way to get oil into the bearings - maybe spin the oil pump with oil in the pan.

I'm not sure how you'd spin a Model A oil pump with the engine locked up. Ideas?

In any case, you would only get oil to the main bearings which could be done by removing the valve cover and squirting some oil down the 3 holes to the mains, OR just put a quart of oil into the valve chamber through the hole the dizzy fits in.

[nhusa]

We used to be able to spin the oil pump thru the distributor hole on a Chevy small block with a bar that didn't have the cam gear attached to prelude before starting.
Never did it with an A so I said maybe.

[robgross1930]

If it were mine, I would not attempt to try to turn the engine over until one quart of oil was poured down the distributor hole. I would use a lighter weight oil, like straight 20 weight. I would also remove all the spark plugs and pour about 1/2 cup or so of ATF/acetone mix down in each cylinder and let it soak for a few days. While you’re waiting, obtain a piece of clean straight wire, about a foot long or so, and insert it down where the dip stick should be and see if there is any oil in the pan. I haven’t measured a dipstick in awhile but I think the length that goes down in is about 8 inches as measured from the hole on the block to the end of the stick when it is fully inserted.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by nhusa

15 years without being started on an unknown rebuild requires more than a bit of penetrating oil and a big wrench or hammer.

Remove the head, valve cover, and pan.
Then inspect things.
After that you can begin using penetrating oil - on the cylinder walls and valve guides.
I would also find a way to get oil into the bearings - maybe spin the oil pump with oil in the pan.
You have no clue about what the rebuilder did or did not do.

EXCELLENT ADVICE::::
Except for the oil pump part.. the mains are gravity fed from the valve chamber and the rods are splash and scoop;;

Other things to ck at this point would be the oil feed holes, pump screen, timing gear teeth.....
Clearances if your really energetic

Then work on freeing it

[vtwinsideways]

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A friend bought a sport coupe several years ago and couldn't get it freed up.it had been rebuilt and never fired much like yours. He soaked it with penetrant and tried to pull it around the block to break it loose. All that accomplished was to rough up the bottom side of two tires. He finally pulled the pan to see what he could and found that there were no shims in the mains at all. There were gaps, but no shims. It was tight! A new set of shims and some plastigauge and it ran fine!

[Jacksonlll]

Put it in third gear and try to rock it to get something to break loose. Take the starter out until you figure this out.

[fordrelic]

Great advise guys. I was told the fellow that did the rebuild was well known for his work on the "A" motor's.

[SSsssteamer]

Originally Posted by fordrelic

...... With a little labor I could try to pull car and pop clutch. Would this be a bad idea after letting it soak?

This was a little different experience I had from towing:
One afternoon, in 1963, I was managing a Gull gas station and a guy came in and asked me for a tow of his '40 Ford coupe. Earlier that day, on his way to work, he had over heated the flat head V8 motor, and he had left the car along side the road to cool. Now, in the afternoon, the starter would not crank the motor over. I did just what he asked me to do. We got it rolling by towing and he popped the clutch. It skidded the tires a couple of times, and then finally the motor was turning over. The motor was running on about half the cylinders and lot of water was coming out of the exhaust. We checked the oil and the oil level was high with water in it too. What had happened was that he had blown a head gasket earlier and while the car was sitting all day, a couple of cylinders had filled with water. When we towed it, the sudden impact of the water in the cylinders blew a couple of tops of the pistons down into the crank case. What could have been an easy head gasket fix, turned into a motor replacement. I traded him out of the '40 Ford coupe. I wish that I still had it.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by nhusa

I would also find a way to get oil into the bearings - maybe spin the oil pump with oil in the pan.

Even if you could it wouldn't do a whole lot of good. The Model A doesn't have a pressurized oil system.

[fordrelic]

Originally Posted by Aok

Below is some information I got many years ago when I was trying to get a 49 Dodge truck started so all may not apply to model A but there is some interesting ideas mixed in there.
"Don't go out
and start cranking on your breaker bar hoping to force the thing.
Pull the plugs and pour whatever your favorite elixer of lubrication
is in each cylinder. And dont be stingy. Pour ALOT of fuel oil,WD-
40,Gibbs oil,Kroil,Engine oil,kerosene,Marvel Mystery Oil,Sea
Foam,ATF,or what-have-you. At the least,let it sit a few days. A
month wouldn't be overdoing it,but should be plenty. When you come
back,re-pour some more lubricant. There are 2 places you can
find "purchase" to turn your motor over. (By the way, there
shouldn't be spark plugs in it.) The front of the crankshaft,and the
rear of the crankshaft(or flywheel). In both cases you'll need
leverage. LOTS of it! No 2 foot,half inch breaker bar here. First
off,you need to make sure the engine is SECURE. Tie it down,chain
it,strap it to a post,or whatever you have to do to keep it from
moving around when you're "reefing" on it. If you have a large bolt
in the center of your crankshaft use a six point hardened impact
socket,and preferably a 3/4 drive breaker bar. Attach to the end of
that a length of pipe for leverage so yo don't have to leave a
couple of round pink things on the ground when you're
pulling/pushing on it. Give that a try. If you don't have a big bolt
on the end of the crank, go to the hardware store and buy some grade
8 bolts 4 or 5 inches long that will thread into your flywheel
damper bolt holes;or you're clutch mounting holes on the flywheel.
(Or BOTH if you have an assistant) Thread long bar or length of pipe
through and lever on those(keeping the lever device close to where
the are threaded in so as not to bend or snap off the grade 8 bolts.
If that doesn't work and you have a seriously stuck engine you can
get an old spark plug , break the insulator out ,weld the hole
closed ,drill it through and tap it or weld in a "zirk" fitting.
Find out which cylinders have the valves closed. screw in the
converted spark plug and start pumping in grease untill the cylinder
is full. Then keep pumping in grease. This will yield hundreds of
pounds of evenly distributed hydraulic pressure to free up
that "stubborn" engine. Don't forget that before you start all this
heavy duty levering and such you should be sure that a mechanical
failure such as a broken connecting rod isn't responsible for the
engine being stuck in the first place. If you're not sure pull the
oil pan off and have a look. These techniques should get "most"
engines unstuck. Good luck,and "safety first" in these endeavors. "

Wow, do you think this might help me on a couple other projects?
I bought a 65 Galaxie 500 that was in a flood in 2008. Car only has 65k miles on it. After the flood from broken levy, and because health issues owner couldn't get back to caring for his car collection. When I first looked at car I pulled dip stick and it was full of water. After pulling plugs, two cylinders had water. I filled those two cylinders with ATF. I drained oil pan and filled with diesel fuel to rinse pan and filled again to soak. What are the chances I would break bolt on crank pulley? Would the grease do the job through a plug hole?
I also have a 61 Falcon that was parked in 1985 in a garage and the motor is also stuck. I pulled plugs and have it soaking with ATF.
I would like to get these two moving again.

[kimlinh]

Consider pulling the engine and doing a complete rebuild of what ever you find wrong. You don't know what kind of work (quality) the former owner did. You do know the engine sat in a damp garage for 15 years. The peace of mind should be worth the effort.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by fordrelic

Wow, do you think this might help me on a couple other projects?
I bought a 65 Galaxie 500 that was in a flood in 2008. Car only has 65k miles on it. After the flood from broken levy, and because health issues owner couldn't get back to caring for his car collection. When I first looked at car I pulled dip stick and it was full of water. After pulling plugs, two cylinders had water. I filled those two cylinders with ATF. I drained oil pan and filled with diesel fuel to rinse pan and filled again to soak. What are the chances I would break bolt on crank pulley? Would the grease do the job through a plug hole?
I also have a 61 Falcon that was parked in 1985 in a garage and the motor is also stuck. I pulled plugs and have it soaking with ATF.
I would like to get these two moving again.

Any car that's been submerged needs to be drained and serviced I'd say within two weeks, or you can expect a complete teardown. I've worked on a few flood victims, but I did all the draining and flushing within two weeks, and got them back on the road for the customers. In 1977 my snowmobile sank in a cattle pond that I wasn't aware of, and I got that out and serviced within a day. It also survived the total submerge.

[old car guy]

Back in the early eighties a friend found a model T with the same situation you describe but only had sat for ten years. We tried everything. But we came up with a idea to soak the whole motor. 55 gallon drum and filled it with diesel fuel and transmission fluid. There was a transmission shop near by and he had drums full of used fluid. We let it sit for about 2 weeks , pulled it and gave it a try still too stiff but some movement. Another two weeks and it spun over fine. The bonus was everything cleaned up nicely. We made a speedster with the engine and ran great . He sold it about 10 years later.
I should have bought it. Good luck with your engine . Happy New Year