New B-3-B owner with some basic questions

[ktb]

Quick update: 

 

Using the valve spring compressor I was able to tell that all of the exhaust valves are free, and all but #2 intake valves are stuck.  So I'm guessing old gas turned to varnish and locked those valve stems in the guides.

 

On to head removal...

[ktb]

I could use some advice on what to try next.

 

Yesterday I removed the head and got all the valves to move freely, some with the valve spring compressor and some manually.  There was some crusty carbon on the combustion chamber surfaces and a lot of crud in the water passages.  I will remove the freeze plugs and hose out the water jacket one of these days. Should I remove all the valves and springs and clean them up?

 

Today I removed the oil pan and cleaned it up.  There was maybe an inch of sludge in the deepest part of the pan, but the oil pickup was clean.

 

Sprayed PB Blaster on tops of pistons and parts of connecting rods from underneath, but I still can't get the crank to budge.  Wondering if I should keep tapping on the pistons or try to open up the timing cover to look in there.  I'm a little confused about the transmission - the rear wheels turn whether the shifter is in gear or not.  The clutch and everything aft spins freely, but no movement at all from the fluid drive coupler forward.  I've tried to turn the crank via the hand starting nut on the crank pulley quite a bit - if I turn CCW the nut loosens; if I turn CW there's no movement at all.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[bkahler]

To me, that does not look like an engine where the pistons are stuck in the bores.  That leaves the valve tappets, the rod or main bearings, something in the connection between the crankshaft and the transmission or cam shaft frozen. 

 

Not much else I can think of that matches your description.

[Young Ed]

Another thought to consider is to pull the timing chain. Then you can turn the crank and cam separately and see what's going on 

[Los_Control]

Weeel, there is a old rumor going around about Grandpa's Suburban. 🤔

He got drunk one night and the old rumor goes, he hit a parked car and raced home so fast he created a rod knocking.

Then he painted the car cream white because thats what he had lying around .... He would never drive the car on the road and while moving it around his junk yard the bearing froze and locked the engine up .... car sat since the mid 1960's ... just a rumor of course. 🙄

 

I have a 1951 Ford V8 that was locked up tighter then a drum .... I found a mouse nest under the intake.

tried everything and could not get it to break free. I removed the timing chain and the crank was locked up.

I started by removing all the rods/pistons from the block ... all looked fine and was a fresh rebuild before engine was parked.

I then started on the main caps and again they looked fine ... except the last one by the rear seal ... had a drop of mouse pee on it and that was enough to lock it up.

Once I removed the bearing, looks fine ... the crank has a slight bluish color in the tiny spot .... I plan to assemble it with the same bearings .... but just a drop of mouse pee locked it up.

 

Your engine has a story to tell, you are this far into it .... would not hurt to just remove and inspect the bearings and then put them back where you found them .... you have 9 sets down there and just one bad one is all it takes.

 

[Merle Coggins]

17 hours ago, ktb said:

...  I'm a little confused about the transmission - the rear wheels turn whether the shifter is in gear or not.  The clutch and everything aft spins freely, but no movement at all from the fluid drive coupler forward.  I've tried to turn the crank via the hand starting nut on the crank pulley quite a bit - if I turn CCW the nut loosens; if I turn CW there's no movement at all.

 

Since the Fluid Drive is a fluid coupling, as you reference, there is no direct connection between the transmission and the engine. This is why you MUST have a working Parking Brake on FD equipped vehicles. If parked on a grade, even with the transmission in low gear, the vehicle will roll. At very low speeds there will be no power transfer through the Fluid Drive fluid coupler, which will allow the transmission to spin with very little resistance. When the engine is running the internal fins on the Impeller side of the FD will force the oil in the FD unit to transfer power to the Turbine side (output/clutch). The higher the RPM the more power will be transmitted through the FD. 

 

[John-T-53]

"JEEBUS" No. 2 !

Looking at all the heavy corrosion found in the tappet chambers on the previous page, this engine needs to be removed and placed on a stand and disassembled. Even if it turned over, it's in no shape to run with all that crap in there. There is likely corrosion that you can't see that is locking up the rotating assembly. The block needs to be thoroughly cleaned - baked, tanked, blasted, and inspected before proceeding. You might already have a boat anchor on your hands, but you won't know until you can have a shop inspect it. I'm trying to save you time from making more snausage here. Hopefully it's still good!

Edited Thursday at 07:43 PM by John-T-53

[ktb]

3 hours ago, John-T-53 said:

"JEEBUS" No. 2 !

Looking at all the heavy corrosion found in the tappet chambers on the previous page, this engine needs to be removed and placed on a stand and disassembled. Even if it turned over, it's in no shape to run with all that crap in there. There is likely corrosion that you can't see that is locking up the rotating assembly. The block needs to be thoroughly cleaned - baked, tanked, blasted, and inspected before proceeding. You might already have a boat anchor on your hands, but you won't know until you can have a shop inspect it. I'm trying to save you time from making more snausage here. Hopefully it's still good!

 

I thought the same initially, but the "heavy corrosion" in the valve spring chamber is actually dried oil, not rust - it will clean up nicely.  Some of the valves were sticking initially, but they are no longer the problem.

[ktb]

6 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

 

Since the Fluid Drive is a fluid coupling, as you reference, there is no direct connection between the transmission and the engine. This is why you MUST have a working Parking Brake on FD equipped vehicles. If parked on a grade, even with the transmission in low gear, the vehicle will roll. At very low speeds there will be no power transfer through the Fluid Drive fluid coupler, which will allow the transmission to spin with very little resistance. When the engine is running the internal fins on the Impeller side of the FD will force the oil in the FD unit to transfer power to the Turbine side (output/clutch). The higher the RPM the more power will be transmitted through the FD. 

 

 

Thank you, I can scratch the transmission off the list of potential sticking points.

[Bobacuda]

While you are cleaning oil stuff, make sure you clean the lines too, and from the oil filter. Also, remove the bypass oil pressure valve, clean that area all out, and don’t stretch the spring. 
 

If that valve sticks, the oil pressure will destroy your gauge and make an oily mess in your cab. Don’t ask me how I know…

 

The first attached photo is a generic description of the system. The second photo is the driver’s side of the engine. The bypass spring and valve are behind that square-head plug at the bottom of the photo.