Projects 1954 Nash Ambassador

Looking for some advice.. knowledge.. motivation.. not real sure right now

I acquired a Solid 1954 Nash Ambassador Super. 39k OG miles, 1 owner, clean title. Thing is.. SOLID and clean.

Only problem is the motor is stuck-stuck. We've got the head off of it after some struggling. Cannot get the motor to turn over for nothin'. It's a LeMans Dual Jetfire engine.

We've soaked the cylinders with anything and everything we could think of, tranny fluid, diesel, penetrating oil, vinegar, and marvel mystery oil. We've smacked the pistons with a wood block and hammer, We've used the big 'ol breaker bar to try to spin her over and still nothing. Can't believe how stuck she is.

Does anyone know anything special or significant about these jetfire motors that we don't?

We are fully tossing the idea around of calling 'er a boat anchor at this point and strapping on our fabricator pants and getting creative with puttin the whole car on a different frame and swapping to a regular 'ol small block. Since this car is a unibody car with a torque tube driveshaft, shock towers in the engine bay (making it a tight squeeze)...a motor swap seems it's going to take some work.

Anyone done anything of this magnitude with a unibody Nash? If you have or haven't, what would you do??

 

Why the hell would you even think about screwing up a pretty decent car with a chassis swap? That doesn't make sense unless you were going custom chassis from Art Morrison or another chassis builder to build a high end show car out of it.

I'm thinking that Nash and then AMC used that same basic six for years on end and if you can't get that one up to snuff I'd hunt down a bolt in replacement.
This is one of those cars that the less you change the better chance you have of selling it and getting your money back when you get tired of it and move on. Sticking a different chassis under it cuts the value to the people who whould actually be interested in it. I'm not a restorer by any means but this is one of those cars were the resale market is going to be for a pretty well original car.

 

Restoring and reselling isn't our bag. We are the get it running and drive the heck out of em type. We like the rusty/patina drivers.

 

The 'drive em across the country and be able to stop anywhere for a part if need be reliability' type.

 

well..you did what you could up top, now it is time to see what the bottom looks like. I say pull the motor. at the very least pull the pan and have a look see.

 

If it's that stuck, I would pull it and see what's up. A frame swap is a lot of work for little gain, if you just want to drive it, find a Chevy or ford inline six, and an open rear end. The car has no significant value, but is unique enough to try to keep as much original character as possible. Plenty of sixes out there that will be an improvement with readily available parts

 

Have you tried putting it in gear and rocking it? Have you pulled the pan to make sure there isn’t a spun bearing?

 

Those cylinders don’t really look that bad. As others have said there may be something else going on in the bottom end. And I’m also with going with a more modern inline if that one isn’t salvageable.
Cool car though.

 

You've got nothing to lose by removing the engine from the car; it will give you a better oppurtunity to remove the pan and see what's what, and if it turns out to be total junk, you were going to have to remove it anyway.

 

I'd go with what CCC suggests, it may take a while to let the juice creep down the cylinder walls. Keep the engine in the car, you'll get better leverage trying to spin it in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure how rare the pistons are, take care not to break them. But they may be junk anyway. Be on the lookout for another short block.

 

A good friend of mine has an Avanti. Engine had been stuck for almost 20 years. We poured 2 gallons of WD40 down the carb. We tried to turn the crank with a socket and breaker bar for a couple of weeks. It finally broke loose. This was 7 years ago. He drives it almost everyday. We never even took the valve covers off.
Listen to CornCobCoupe. He knows what he speaks of !!!!!!

 

IIRC others swear by Coke to free up a stuck engine. Or you can use the set it on fire method that CB SISSON on the Barn uses for freeing up stuck flatheads. This link isn't by GB but deals with using fire to free up a flathead.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61058

 

Hmmm...I just got back from a 5000 mile trip around the country in a 6 cylinder 50s Rambler. So I probably don't know what I'm talking about....but....

I would pull the engine out, and pull the pan off, start taking pistons out one at a time, carefully. When you get to the last one or two that are actually stuck, then you have to be really slow and patient. If you just can't get it out without damaging stuff, see if there are pistons available anywhere (nos or used or new). If not, you might be able to find a used engine somewhere. If not, then maybe an engine swap would be a good plan. But you might want to think a little out of the box, the Chevy small block is not the only engine in the world. Would a later AMC engine fit? How about a compact six from another carmaker? Length might be an issue though, the later more common engines like the Ford 200 had more main bearings and larger bores, so might not fit. But a newer four might fit and if it's new enough to not be hamb friendly, it might even make more power than the original six, and you could get parts for it.

I got lucky, my 196 was not stuck, it just burned a lot of oil, so I was able to overhaul it for a couple hundred bucks, just replacing the rings and gaskets and lapping valves.

Maybe you should just buy my rambler, it'll save you countless hours of work and frustration, if you are really just interested in driving an old Nashish thing around.

 

One picture shows a clutch pedal

 

Pull it in high gear and pop the clutch.

 

good catch !!! I had to go look again and you are correct !!!!

 

Just for giggles unbolt the starter and move it away from the engine then try and turn it with your breaker bar. A friend of mine had a 6 cylinder Ford pickup that he thought was locked up , turned out the starter drive was stuck into the flywheel . I have seen this happen a couple of other times on GM cars also .

 

This whole discussion reminds me that I need to go pull the plugs and soak down my 61 GMC 305 that is also stuck to see if I can get it broke loose. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Yep, I use my lift for everything like this anymore since it is so much easier than leaning over the fender doing it.

 

And when it finally breaks loose, take the plugs out and spin it with the starter

AND

Do not be under the car when it spins. You will be covered in whatever you put into the engine to break it loose……….voice of experience…..I ended up wearing about a gallon and a half Of dirty WD40

 

How about use a braker bar from the bottom so you can use a floor jack to put pressure on the bar and walk away while the oil in the cylinders works.

 

Is there any oil in the engine? May be an indicator of the condition. Maybe they ran it out of oil and seized it up? Lippy

 

pretty surprising to read all these suggestions. Whenever I get a stuck engine, I just take it apart and fix it, saves a lot of time.

 

I spent a lot of miles in my youth riding in 50's Nash cars, my Dad liked them, my older Sister had a Rambler American, I am a Wi. guy, lots of them here back in the day. I have seen a few of that vintage with swapped engines, if there's a will there's a way. They win the unique award. Good Luck and Have Fun.

 

You can't do that Jim!!!!! That bypasses all the acetone/trans fluid-prybar/in frame disassembly routine we all know and love.