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Wow - interesting plan. Well, in order to manage my finances I was going to wait another week before choosing and buying a used engine (looking at some in Phoenix that are in the $2500-2900 range including harness, ECU, and accessories - seems wise to get some backup parts). So it does sound worth a try. I guess I'd have to get that intake back on, but I haven't taken the head off yet. Plus I wanted to take the pan off to inspect below. I just might give that a shot, cause, why not?
why not. the odds are absolutely not in your favour. but u knew when u bought a $1500 vette they were not in your favour. if you drain and fill and drain and fill break it loose. use cheap filters….
i bet u can get it running. Cylinder wall pitting and frozen stuck rings would be the biggest concern if u have them. But u dont know that u do yet. and the rings would probably loosen up if you can get it running and then soak it and go heat it up and soak it again.
If this car is purely a flip, I'd buy the cheapest motor I could and swap it in. If you wanted to keep it, I'd buy a zz crate motor and swap that in with whatever l98 parts are better.
What I would do with that engine, now that you have made this post, started this thread, and shared those seriously condemning photos…..in this order…
1. shop vac and scrape/chip as much rust out as possible while shop vacing all the chips and dust…(can u see where im going already?)
2. drop the pan, do the same thing. Reinstall pan with same gasket if possible and if not, a re-useable blue felpro gasket.
3. Fill the crankcase up to the absolute brim with diesel and acetone.
4. drain it all out. Filter the concoction using a few old socks, repeat with filtered fluid. Id add another bottle of acetone the second go-around. drain it out. Remove the plugs. try to break it free. Working it back and forth.
5. u will be successful, and then i would fill the crankcase with the cheapest 0w oil i could find, some of the cheapest oil filters i can find, id drizzle it all over the lifters and the valve train, and id sacrifice an old distributor and turn it into a priming tool. Spin with drill and get oil pressure.
Eventually id button it back ip and try to fire it. i bet it will run. If at any time you discover a major failure then scrap it, but recover your new felpro gaskets first.
Thats what id do. Cause it would be legendary it worked. Not much to lose other than time.
I mean you are potentially a few hours of evening work away from a running driving 1500$ vette!
The only problem that I see with this is if you have a stuck valve that doesn't turn loose and if the rest of the rotating assemblies start moving you could end up with the valve/piston getting intimate. This usually has bad results. From the looks of what you have uncovered this far I wouldn't be surprised if you do have a few that are stuck. My experience is stuck valves are usually the hardest to get free. If you do get it to break free with this method I would check all the valves to make sure they are free before cranking it over too far. As other have said, you don't have a lot to lose at this point but don't add to the problems it already has.
The only problem that I see with this is if you have a stuck valve that doesn't turn loose and if the rest of the rotating assemblies start moving you could end up with the valve/piston getting intimate. This usually has bad results. From the looks of what you have uncovered this far I wouldn't be surprised if you do have a few that are stuck. My experience is stuck valves are usually the hardest to get free. If you do get it to break free with this method I would check all the valves to make sure they are free before cranking it over too far. As other have said, you don't have a lot to lose at this point but don't add to the problems it already has.
Good point - and I did take off the rocker and pushrod for one cylinder and one of those valves is indeed stuck open. I’ll try to get it/them unstuck before any rotation happens - if anyone has a recommendation how I’m all ears
Good point - and I did take off the rocker and pushrod for one cylinder and one of those valves is indeed stuck open. I’ll try to get it/them unstuck before any rotation happens - if anyone has a recommendation how I’m all ears
Now that you have the intake manifold off this would be the perfect opportunity to spray the valve stems from the intake ports in the head with some PB Blaster or other good penetrant. This will not only give you a chance to free up any intake valves that are open but will also drip down into the combustion chamber and help to loosen up pistons/rings that are likely stuck also. It isn't going to cost you much besides your time. I agree with VT that it would be awesome if you could get this poor thing to run if for no other reason that it would allow you to check out other systems on the car to see if it will be worth putting another engine in it. I have a feeling that even if you could get it to run it won't be long for this world as I believe it's likely that you are going to have some major corrosion on the crank and that will be wiping bearings in short order. As for freeing up the valves you could try taking off the rockers and finding a flat piece of steel that you could lay across the top of the stem and give it some sharp blows with a hammer. This will help to keep from damaging the top of the stem with the hammer blows.
Yep, you will want to drench the valves. Anything at all that is supposed to move needs to be drenched.
Personally id buy some cheap synthetic ATF, and some acetone, put them in a jar or something (i use an oiler can) shake that concoction up and lather it on.
Heat is the best to break thinks that are rusted shut but i think in this case the liquid atf/acetone is your best bet.
50/50 mix. you will see how it acts when you put it on. Its by far the best liquid creeping type stuff.
you asked about the acetone in the diesel. the reason i would put it in the diesel is only because of what ive seen the atf/acetone mix do. Maybe it wont work as well but i would toss a quart into the diesel.
this sounds like a fun challenge to me.
guaranteed your crank, everything is seized up. You will absolutely need to drench this entire thing. Work it back and forth very very gently so as not to break the crank bolt.
good old vice grip garage has done it more than once.
trick is to use the lubricants and shock if you need to.
This is where a borescope would come in handy. there are cheap ones out there that will pair with your smart phone and give you an idea as to what you have going on in any areas that you can get the probe into. The better quality ones will give you a better picture but the cheap ones work well enough to get an idea as to how bad it's rusted up inside.
This is where a borescope would come in handy. there are cheap ones out there that will pair with your smart phone and give you an idea as to what you have going on in any areas that you can get the probe into. The better quality ones will give you a better picture but the cheap ones work well enough to get an idea as to how bad it's rusted up inside.
I have one, maybe - it’s not designed for cylinder bores so might be too wide to pass the plug hole. Will try.
why not. the odds are absolutely not in your favour. but u knew when u bought a $1500 vette they were not in your favour. if you drain and fill and drain and fill break it loose. use cheap filters….
i bet u can get it running. Cylinder wall pitting and frozen stuck rings would be the biggest concern if u have them. But u dont know that u do yet. and the rings would probably loosen up if you can get it running and then soak it and go heat it up and soak it again.
My advice will be royally unpopular!!
I would try it too, nothing to lose... and he make succeed you never know....
You’re not one of the guys asking $20k for your c4 are you? True story-a local car lot has one. 😬
I'm not claiming to be an expert, just someone who has followed the collector car market closely for nearly 50 years. If you doubt that C4 are appreciating in value you are entitled to your opinion. Here's what I've seen over the years. Certain cars can go along for quite some time with a slight appreciation in value that often doesn't even keep up with inflation. Then, for some reason, they seem to hit a sweet spot where they start getting more appreciation. I believe the C4 is at that point. Sure, there were a lot of them made and there are a lot of cheap ratty ones out there for your quoted $5K value. But, the nice ones are starting to be pursued by more and more collectors. This is I believe why you are seeing more of them in the $15K to $20K price range. I saw this happen with the C3's. For years they were mostly 4 figure cars except for the special/high performance models. Now look at where prices are on them now. It's hard to find any in decent condition for less than $10K. I don't claim to have any crystal ball abilities, just a gut feeling that things have started up for the C4 and unless something catastrophic happens to the world economy I don't see the values of well kept ones coming down. YMMV
Last edited by Blue Bucket List; Apr 22, 2023 at 12:17 PM.
Well, spent a couple of hours getting started on de-rusting this engine. Took off all the rockers and pushrods, then scraped away and vacuumed what I could of rust around the valves. There were a couple of valves that were stuck open (pressed down). Sprayed generously with the PB Blaster, and after giving them a little while to soak, used a metal plate and a rubber mallet to give them a few light blows and they popped right back up. Boom, no stuck valves that will contact pistons. Gave all of them a few light bangs to make sure they’re not stuck closed either. Lifters move freely if I wiggle them with my finger.
Started working on getting the oil pan off. This is a bit more difficult than I realized with these cars due to the cooler line that passes underneath and the cross beam supports. I didn’t want to remove these but looks like I’ll have to. Will finish this tomorrow (and share pics) and hopefully start the first crankcase soak.
🤞🤞
Also killed four black widow spiders hiding around the insides of this car. That has slowed me down considerably 😳
I don't think I'd drop the pan. Why? If there is a fatal problem in there, you gotta rebuild anyway.
I think at this point, I'd fill the pan w/new/clean oil, then pull the distributor and prime it. While priming, I'd "bar over" the crank and get it moving...back and forth....back and forth, more and more until you can make a full rotation. Then spin it a bunch of times and drop change the oil. I'd use the cheapest oil for this, BTW.
I've actually done exactly this on a seized (rusted) up AMC 401....and it worked out! Ring scrapped the rust off the cylinders, I flushed it, got it to fire, compression came back, and the thing ended up running pretty damn good. Until the owner sank the boat again and filled the engine with sand.
