Hey fellas, Just in the middle of tearing down a flathead to make it a bit lighter and easier to use as mockup and having trouble removing the nuts that hold the Con rods to the crank. Crank cap nuts were easy to remove but cannot get the con rod nuts off due to my sockets not being thin enough as there is hardly any recess on the cap itself. I bought a socket today that was a smaller drive than my sidchrome set that are half inch drive but it was a deep throat long socket and thinking I may need to have it turned down on a lathe to reduce the socket thickness to fit. Has anyone got any tips on what they've done in the past? It should be a simple job but for some reason it's being quite painful. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
1/4 inch drive sockets set from sears or similiar. The 1/4" deep sockets are fair thin and a quality brand socket will easily loosen the 35ish foot pounds that the nut is torqued down to. jmho http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sidchrom...-1-4-Inch-Deep-Socket-Set-12430-/261169738561 <table class="vi_sme_banner_layout"><tbody><tr><td width="100%"> </td><td width="100%"> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table id="vi-tTbl" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" id="vi-tTblC1" class="vi-ip_0"><form name="ssFrm" action="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=261169738561" target="ssFrmWin" method="post"></form><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="vs_w-a"><center></center> Zoom unavailable Enlarge </td></tr><tr><td id="vv4-35_sp" class="vs_w-spr"> </td></tr><tr><td><table class="tg-tb tg-clp" id="vv4-35_tbl" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%"><tbody><tr id="t_r_vv4-35_0"><td id="t_c_vv4-35_0" height="42px" width="16%"></td><td id="t_c_vv4-35_1" width="16%"></td><td id="t_c_vv4-35_2" class="tg-td" width="16%"> </td><td id="t_c_vv4-35_3" class="tg-td" width="16%"> </td><td id="t_c_vv4-35_4" class="tg-td" width="16%"> </td><td id="t_c_vv4-35_5" class="tg-td" width="16%"> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> Have one to sell?Sell it yourself </td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" id="vi-tTblS" class="vi-tTblS"> </td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" id="vi-tTblC2" class="vi-tc_0 vi-tc_0">Sidchrome 9 Pc AF 1/4" Square Drive 1/4 Inch Deep Socket Set 12430 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3" id="isclmn" class="vi-tTblS" valign="top"><form name="v4-26" id="v4-26" method="post" class="vi-is1-s4-eu" action=""><table class="vi-is1" style="margin-left: 0px !important" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl">Item condition:</th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">Brand New</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr id=""><th class="vi-is1-lbl" id="">Quantity:</th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr"><input size="4" name="v4-32qtyId" id="v4-32qtyId" value="1" class="vi-is1-mqtyTb" type="text">5 available / 4 sold </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" class="vi-is1-solid" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lblp vi-is1-solidBg"> </th><td class="vi-is1-solid vi-is1-tbll">AU $48.00</td><td colspan="2" class="vi-is1-solid vi-is1-tblb">Buy It NowBuy It Now </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" class="vi-is1-solid" height="10"> </td></tr><tr id="watchItemMiddleRow"><td class="vi-is1-solid vi-is1-lbl"> </td><td class="vi-is1-solid" id="watchLabelDiv"> </td><td colspan="2" class="vi-is1-solid vi-is1-tblb">Add to Watch list <label for="nLstTxt"></label> <input id="nLstTxt" name="nLstTxt" size="40" value="Type a new list name here" type="text"> </td></tr><tr id=""><td class="vi-is1-solid"> </td><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-solid"> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" class="vi-is1-solid" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl">Postage:</th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">FREE - Standard Postage<wbr><table class="vi-is1-s9" width="99%"><tbody><tr><td style="word-wrap: break-word"> </td></tr></tbody></table> | See all postage details</td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl"> </th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">Item location: Sydney, Australia </td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl"> </th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">Posts to: Australia </td></tr><tr id="delspcr"><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr id="delrw"><th class="vi-is1-lbl">Delivery:</th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">Estimated between Mon. 22 Apr. and Tue. 30 Apr. </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl">Payments:</th><td colspan="3" class="vi-is1-clr">, Visa/MasterCard | See payment information </td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" height="10"> </td></tr><tr><th class="vi-is1-lbl">Returns:</th></tr></tbody></table></form></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> .
That looks like the type i picked up today. I got one nut undone but it still didn't seem like it quite fitted over it perfectly. I'll have a better look at it soon. Thanks for the advice mate!
I considered that too. So went out to the shed and got most of them off but the caps will be impossible to get off in some cases. Removed two caps with a lot of trouble. Considering just cutting all the con rods and buying a replacement set locally later down the track.. Seems a hell of a lot easier. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Even if you cut the old rods , you will still need a socket to reassemble the new parts. Buy a Snap On 3/8" drive, 9/16" socket, it will work.
I've got a guy that sells early ford parts and just had a look at his latest parts list and found he has flathead v8 rods for $40 - $50 a set. I think thats pretty good. The problem i'm having is because the pistons are stuck in the bores, and everything is rusted together.. i cannot rotate the assembly. I've been able to remove most of the nuts but cannot get a few out.. getting the rest of the caps off is another issue entirely. I don't think reassembly will be a problem as the socket i've got seems to work reasonably well and being able to rotate a fresh assembly to do up all the nuts shouldn't be a drama, but i will look into the snap on anyway one for ease of replacement.
Now we get the full story, get a bar under the piston and smash away, wear some eye protection. If its rusted you're going to bore/sleeve anyway. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Sorry haha I should of explained it better in my original post. Yes essentially it's a rusted, fucked 24 stud but it has really nice Canadian aluminium heads that I really want to use.. So having to be kinda careful with those in the process. I've got the engine on a trolley and I don't know if one of the pistons was moving slightly as I belted the threaded part of the Conrod.. I may be able to stuff a rag into each spark plug hole and love tap the Conrods and hopefully dislodge the heads enough to pull them off. Here's a picture of it for reference. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Sounds like you have an even bigger problem: You haven't tried removing the aluminum heads yet? If you could get them off, then you could free up up the crank assembly by destroying the pistons-you can't save them anyway. Take a big hole saw and go right down in the tops. Then you can take the rest out with a chisel (being somewhat careful of the cylinder walls.)
I would get the heads off 1st. Have you tried heat? I would lean on the head bolts while applying heat with a small propane torch.
Nick, I have a 3/8 drive deep socket I use for doing caps. you shouldn't need to grind down a good socket, and you should NEVER cut up old rods. I'm guessing your looking at Freds list of parts, well Fred may not have any more rods left. I would try and save as much as you can until you know you can replace it with better. As to getting the pistons out, try and get a head off and then mix up in a 50/50 mix acetone and auto trans fluid. make sure you are outside on in a big area when you do it, the stuff is toxic to smell and my put you on your arse if your not careful. Set the engine stand so you can pour this mix into the top of the cylinder and let it soak. Every day or so get a 2' breaker bar ( if you don't have one get one, you need it for turning the motor over when rebuilding it anyway, their about $20 from the chinese shops) and try and 'rock' the motor, just keep doing that until you get it free. It will come eventually. you can break the pistons up but you may also do more damage to the bore, I would use that method as the last resort. Good luck with it, but in honesty you need to have a bit of patience with this process, it may take a week or two to work but will decrease the potential damage you might do to the bore and also the parts you will need to replace. good luck.
Another trick I've seen for freeing rusty nuts is to get the nut pretty hot with a propane torch, then soak it with spray penetrating oil - just keep pouring the coals to it - smoke and all. Keep it wet enough as it's cooling down to suck the oil into the threads. I've removed some crazy horrible looking stuff by doing this. Point is, a heat cycle with some oil soak should free anything up.
I have tried on one of the heads, have run a scraper, screwdriver and stanly blade through the copper head gasket but it doesn't want to go anywhere. All the head studs and the head have corroded together. I have heard of a thin hole saw that was available way back in the day that would skim around the stud and remove any corrosion and made it far easier to remove aluminium heads.. but they don't seem available anymore. Have not tried heat, although i'm not sure what you mean by leaning on the head bolts. This one has studs, the nuts are all off though. Thats too cool man, when i have a youngster one day i'll be doing the same thing! Thanks for the tip mate. Yep, was looking at Freds list. I've got another flathead here but it doesn't have aluminium heads which is why i'm trying to get this one apart. Its a 21 stud, but a later one with the insert bearings. Not sure if the rods are the same but they are both a 221ci so possibly same internals. That one only has one stuck piston and should rotate with a little soaking, so may be easier to free up if i was to need parts.. in the event they are the same. I didn't really want to cut the conrods but that may be a last resort in itself. The nuts themselves are not hard to pull off, but because it won't rotate the remaining ones are stuck in a spot that the socket cannot get to. If i could rotate it it'd be all sweet, but man.. the pistons aren't looking too good haha. Will keep trying to knock the caps off and get to those last few nuts before i go to an extreme. Also have some trans fluid here i'm going to use to soak the pistons with as well, just have to mix it up. Thats a good tip mate, thanks. Will keep that in mind. The bolts are rusty but they aren't so bad that they won't undo, its simply the positioning of them that is the issue at the moment. The cylinder heads on the other hand.. they aren't playing nice at all.
what I mean by leaning on them is apply tension and heat at the same time. If it doesn't work the 1st time spray a "break free" and let it creep in. keep at it you will get it. trust me a little heat goes a long way.
Ah yep I get ya mate. I was thinking of making a tool that used the outside of a spark plug and thread a bolt into that to push the heads up using the piston to push against it. I don't know if that'd be a good tool or not. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I've had great sucess with Wurth Rost Off. It seeps into even the tightest crevice and releases the rust. Amazing stuff for sure. Nigel.
Where abouts did you get that stuff mate? I've used the septone kill rust or whatever its called, that always works pretty damn well.
I picked up a specialized wrench just for this job. I forget where, but it is vintage and was under $10. Here is another tip. I made a con rod bolt "vice" for you'll find that sometimes the cap doesn't want to slide off nicely. If you force it, you can booger up the threads which is a no-no. I'll take a picture of it later. Real simple, but real handy. Good luck.
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