Restoration of a Chevrolet WA

[David Herbert]

Don't give up on the engine that easily. Any engine of that age will need stripping and at least some engineering. The key is whether there are cracks from frost damage and are the bores rusted to an extent that it can't be bored. Pistons and bearings are cheap and this is a very common engine so parts are available.

I suggest pulling the head and cleaning the bores as well as possible from above. Clean out all the resulting crud, re-oil the bores and try the Jeep rocking trick every week or so. If it does move you will get oil on the driveway so you need something to catch it. If all else fails the pistons can be pressed out once the engine is dismantled.

Good luck. David

[Lynn Eades]

When the head is off, put a little diesel in the bore with a bit of rag and set fire to it. (a small quantity) let it burn quietly for half an hour. it will heat things up a little, expanding the rings etc.

[David Herbert]

Lynn, Good idea.

David

[Philippe Jeanneau]

Hello Lynn,

Thank you for the tip, I am closer to removing the cylinder head off... Any surprises to watch out for? Then I will try your diesel fuel/fire trick and see if I can get the engine loose... Given the amount of time it has been sitting, it would be a miracle to get this thing to run again...

[Philippe Jeanneau]

The frame is finally cleaned and painted... Quite a job without a sandblaster. Next, I have to clean the rear axle, torque tube, springs and backing plates, but stuck between deciding to pull the engine or remove the head-trying to see if it can be saved... I was however able to remove that nasty contraption that was the old fire water pump. It probably weighed 300 lbs!

[Paul Singleton]

If it was me, I would remove the cylinder head and then try to free up the engine. With the engine bolted in the truck it is secure in that you could be more aggressive in trying to get the engine to turn. Also you can determine the condition, and if you don’t think it is worth saving at least it will be quite a bit lighter to remove.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Philippe

Slowly remove all the loose stuff first...... distributor, carb, manifolds(carefull with the bolts..... valve cover.... the whole valve trainrocker assembly has to come out to be able easily reach the 2 head bolts located underneath the rocker shaft..... May want to drain oil pan and remove....... BUT....... have a large catch pan for the drippings oil pan.

I have had good results from using a soft pin square 3x3 square section and hammering on the piston.....after oil has soaked....... who knows what you will find inside the piston....mice nest, nuts from squirrels..... make sure you clean it all out.

Before hammering with a solid 2 pounder look underneath and out which piston is in a parlty rotated spot....halfway down or up ......and start on those first no point hammering on a piston at TDC up or down.

Later down the road if you decide to pull the engine out you may want to remove the tranny engine as one unit....... then remove the tranny..... you will not be able to remove the clutch pack or flywheel with out pulling out the whole crank assembly from the block after loosingoff the rods andleaving the pistons in place....... and you will need to remove the front timing wheel cover and the plate behind it....... DO NOT FORGET THE TWO BOTTOM CREWS that goes through the front bearing cap and ties up to the front cover......

Without being able to rotate the crank taking out the clutch, flywheel and bell housing is "impossible"....... so pulling up the crank and flywheel/clutch as a whole assembly is a HD back straining exercise. I can provide pistures if necessary.....

Lots of those parts can be rebuilt or use as trading chips ......... a good oil pan with all the oil trough/channels inside is worth its weight in gold.....

Good luck

Bob C