70Lt1"Odessey"

i recently moved my 70Lt1 out of storage. its been sitting for 15years and was not properly put away. upon inspection i found the engine is seized. a friend recommended i put it in 4th gear and try pushing it. any ideas on getting the stuck engine unstuck??

Gordonm

If it is truely seized yo uare in for a rebuild. You can try an "unstuck" it by filling the cylinders up with a rust preventitive or Marvel Mystry oil and let it sit. Try turning it over with a breaker bar on teh crank bolt. If that does not do it, I'll bet it needs to come apart.

The 4th gear trick will bust up a lot of things, don't try it.

Mike Ward

So please tell us why the breaker bar is OK, but 4th will bust up a lot of things.

calwldlife

sounds like the rings are rusted to the cyl.
breaker bar will allow a smaller movement than a 4th gear trick.

pull plugs and squirt your choice of anti stick stuff and be patient.

you could snap a ring

69427

Some penetrating oil and a lot of patience will often get you there if pulling the engine is not an option.

Gordonm

The breaker bar you feel the resistance and stop. The 4th gear will just go BANG! If it will loosen with a little torque from the breaker bar it might be OK. If it takes the full on grunt or putting a pipe on it forget it.

It is like trying to torque your wheels with an air gun vs a torquewrench. You can feel the resistance being built up.

Either way I feel this engine is toast and will need to come apart.

billla

With anything else I'd maybe take a shot at some stuff - with a '70 LT-1 (not LT1) I'd pull it and fix it right.

...Roger...

I would put penetrating oil in each cylinder and leave it sit overnight.Then put the car in 1st gear and rock the car back and forth. One guy in the front and one guy in the back. As said above with some patience you might get lucky.

Mike Ward

You'll put a lot more torque on the engine with a breaker bar than by pushing the car in 4th gear........................

longbros

I have done this a half dozen times with great results. Pull the plugs and squirt in a rust buster like Kano or Marvel Mystry oil or, what I like best, automatic transmission fluid. Let is sit, not just overnight, but a few days. Put a socket and breaker bar on the crank bolt. If you get it to move just a little, then try and turn it in the opposite direction, moving back and forth, and it will free up. Take your time, it will free up. I have done this on cars sitting 25 years or more with no problems. The rings are just stuck to the cylinders.

63mako

70Lt1"Odessey"

thanks for the help! time to try it and see what works

djorgensen3

Be careful turning that crank bolt. I have seen crank snouts stripped that way. That one bolt isn't meant for turning over a stuck engine. It may be fine for a lightly seized engine but yours may or may not be so easy. Just be careful and if it doesn't give then I would pull the engine and take it apart.

markdtn

I would use a prybar on the teeth of the flywheel instead.

GTR1999

I dunno, if it's a real LT-1 and was my car, I think I would be doing the whole drivetrain & brakes anyway. I've had bearings go bad sitting in trans for a few years, same with the diff. Brakes are probably mush and will need new calipers, hoses, lines, and M/C. So why not go through the engine? Granted cost & time are a consideration, unless you're just trying to get it running to sell?
Good luck with it. Nice cars those LT-1's.

Reggie Dunlop

If you have to ask this question you should let somebody else take over.

The soak and wait method will work just about every time. I have done it a few times over the years. I use a 50/50 mix of diesel fuel and ATF. About 20 years ago I bought a 1935 John Deere tractor that had been sitting outside since the mid 1950s - soaked it for about week. Every day I could rock the engine forward and backwards a little more with a 2' breaker bar, by the end of the week it broke free. It ran OK, but smoked when cold. The cylinders were pitted terribly in the area above where the pistons had rested all those years.

Mark-Ia

In the tractor collecting world, we use a 50/50 mixture of ATF and ACETONE in the cylinders. It might take a couple of weeks, but they usually come loose with this mixture.

69427

Did the same thing with a '47 John Deere A.

QuicheLorraine

Hmmm a few things come to mind here. After well over a decade in storage, it's going to be needing to be freshened up anyway. Seals will leak and the fluids need changed too. No idea of course w/out pics what it actually looks like, but I'll bet too that it could use some paint on the motor and brightwork cleaned up.

The only way I would spend much time trying to free this engine up without pulling it out, is if I was actively trying to sell the car and needed to get it running first.

Jims66

Then you'll have a nice original "fresh" solid cam and lifter high compression piece of history. They don't make 'em like that anymore. Rebuild it