I took my 54 239 y block apart yesterday and one of the pistons fell over and busted the skirt. Does anyone have a stock 239 piston they are willing to part with? thanks for any help. I'm also having problems getting the distributor out. What's the secret to this????
Did you order that shop Manuel yet? Its a life saver! If not most likely its just being stubborn ,first i would take the holding clap and screw all the way out that holds the distributor in just so your not fighting it, Next try rocking the motor back an forth as you pull and twist back and forth on the housing and the rotor drive, you may need a helping had to rock the motor back and forth with a socket and breaker bar and the main pulley in front of motor while you are tugging and twisting. Here is a picture of what it looks like while its in the engine \ hooked to the oil driveshaft rod ,(See the gear)the gear should be the only thing holding it from popping out, thats what you have to break loose by twisting the rotor/oil drive shaft !
I have an extra STD piston out in the garage. No wrist pins or rings, but the piston looks brand new. $30 plus the ride? I can get you some pictures if you want...
Everything's out of the block accept for the distributor, cam and lifters. The distributor I guess is bound up with old grease and gunk. I can't even get it to turn in the block. I've got it soaking and hopefully this'll break it loose. Yep I got the manual, lots of good info in there. I've been taking lots of pics while taking the engine apart and am bagging and labeling the bolt groups. I took a 68 Camaro apart several years ago and put all the bolts etc, in a pile with the entension of having it back together in a few months. 5 years later I was finally running again. Live and learn.
That 239 is going to be a pain to find a cam and distributor for if the gears get messed up. Not the same as other Y-Blocks. Cam bearings are different also.
Let me know if you need any other parts besides the piston. A buddy of mine is holding another flat head for me. Blocks junk, but everything else is supposedly good. All I gotta do is get my **** over there and pull it apart and take what I want. He wants the block for s****.
Everything inside the engine looks very good excluding the piston i fked up. I've sent the heads off to have hardened seats installed but I think the rest of the engine just needs a good kerosene cleaning and put back together. Cam, crank,distributor, distributor gear, cam bearings, crank bearings, all looks very good. I am going to replace the piston rings and hoan the block. I know where a complete 292 is with the fordomatic but would like to stay with the 239 if I can. Money's tight, times are hard. bla bla bla...
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