Pistons releasing

[Andrew]

Hello everybody,
I got a reserve old engine. Everything seems to be fine. Almost all parts were disassembled
without damage.
But the pistons sticks together with cylindres. I tried many different liquids and chemical agents
during 10 weeks.No move. Of course a lot of rust and carbon was inside of cylinder.
Could you pls advise? What did you used for releasing?

Regards,
Andrew

[m3a1]

Tell us the methods you have tried so far in order to move, or remove them

[Andrew]

from the top - flooded by kerosene, flooded by diesel, using lot of WD 40 and other releasing sprays .
The same from below (after block rotation).

[Mark]

I wonder if heating them up with a flame torch would work, if head is off?

[rickf]

You are probably going to have to take out the crankshaft and then put a 2x4 against the top of the piston and smack it with a fairly large hammer. If this moves it a hair then do the same from the bottom and just keep going back and forth. At this point I can tell you that you are NOT going to save the pistons so do not even try. If the rings have not released easily by now and a few love taps with a 3 pound hammer does not do the trick then the only solution is to really wail on them until they let go. I have had pistons frozen in so bad I have had to take an air chisel and "disassemble" the piston. I can tell you that if it gets that bad it is simply not worth it on one of these engines because the machine work to bore the engine plus the oversize pistons and rings will cost a lot more than a good running takeout engine. And that is assuming they are stuck due to rust and not a broken cylinder from freezing.

[m3a1]

Yup, believe it or not. using an air chisel to break up pistons from the top is common practice on flathead Ford V8s because usually, those have been stuck for a looooong time.

Don't be afraid to break a few eggs to make this omelette. Pistons just aren't that expensive and they're really not worth the hassle.

By all means, try the wood/tapping process first and do it with the crank OUT, otherwise you'll be fighting all the stuck pistons at once.

Cheers,
TJ

[Andrew]

O.K. gents, thank you for your advices, I will try not to brake my sledgehammer.
Merry Christmas and lot of health to you and yours metal horses.

[m3a1]

Moderation in all things, Sir. NO sledgehammers!