I just pulled the 225 engine from my recently acquired '72 Duster. I loosened the mains and couldn't turn her. I loosend her rods and couldn't turn her. I pulled the heads and there is a slight film of rust on some of the cylinder walls. Do I just take the crank out and drive the pistons out the bottom, or is there a way to loosen the pistons in their bores?

By the way, this engine seems a lot beefier than my 1980 SL6. It has buttressing over the freeze plugs and a forged crank.

bwhitejr

_________________
'72 Duster (Performance 360)
'83 Ramcharger (Performance 318)
'80 TrailDuster (360)
'80 D-150 Truck (See Below)
CompCams 252S, Holley 390cfm, Offy manifold
Ported, Polished and Gasket Matched
P4286813 Springs,0.040 Overbore,
0.090 Shaved Head

let some oil sit on the top of the pistons at least overnight. use a wooden dowel tomorrow to drive the piston up out of the hole...on the pistons that are way down in the hole, you could even hone it to knock of the big chunks...but be careful.

If you are patient and let the oil work its way down, you should be able to get em out

sb

A product sold by the name PB Blaster works pretty good as does a soaking in kerosene.

As in the last post .... I'd squirt the pistons with a liberal dose of WD 40
and let them set for a few days then squirt them again.
Years ago I had to do this to an engine that sat out in the weather for
a couple years.
At that time I had piece of 3 inch diameter nylon dowel rod.
I removed the crank to get it out of the way then when I was able
using the nylon dowel rod and a 6 lb. hammer I got the pistons to
move down a little. I cleaned the bores with a hone then drove the
pistons out the top of the block (as I remember, they won't come out
the bottom .. crank side).
Clean the ring grooves, if you don't have a ring groove cleaner you can
use a broken ring end, (more work but it can be done).
If you don't install new rings it'll probably be a real smoker ....

You have two options-

(1) Get a crank snout bolt from a Mopar smallblock and put it in your crank. Get the rght size socket to fit it, get a breaker bar and a three foot cheater bar. Squirt some Knock "Er Loose, PB Blaster, or Sea Foam into each cylinder. WD-40 won't work because it isn't a penetrating lubricant. Put the socket on the breaker bar, the breaker bar on the crank nut, and the cheater bar on the breaker bar. Heave away in a clockwise motion! Wait for the "clunk".

(2) Pour some Coca-Cola down each cylinder. Coke is acidic enough that it will eat away the rust. Its a trick I learned from one of my high school auto shop teachers.

(3) Get a block of wood and a sledge hammer, find a piston that has the con rod pointing off to one side, put the block of wood on top of the piston, give it a good whack with the sledgehammer until the piston moves.

Since the motor is out of a vehicle it sounds like option #2 is a better bet. I don't think you want to be jerking on a breaker bar when the motor is on a stand.

Transmission fluid broke mine loose, after a good day of soaking in the cylinders.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Turpentine.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I used Marvel Mystery Oil.
Pulled out all the spark plugs and filled all the cylinders to the top, worked like a charm!

use 3 in 1 oil, let it soke for a few days, every day pour in more

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'67 Dart 225 Super Six

I got the pistons out today. I pulled the crank and rod caps and drove th epistons out the top. Tried to get the cam out but it wouldn't come out. Then I realized the lifters were still in.

All-in-all the engine is in pretty good shape. It could be honed, freshend and put on the road. But greater thing are coming for this Slant.

I did notice that the crank on this engine versus my 1980 cast crank model will ring with a beautiful note when tapped. I didn't notice this feature on the '80. I could be mistaken.

Golly, these older versions of the SL6 are much beefier. A beauty to behold.

bwhitejr

_________________
'72 Duster (Performance 360)
'83 Ramcharger (Performance 318)
'80 TrailDuster (360)
'80 D-150 Truck (See Below)
CompCams 252S, Holley 390cfm, Offy manifold
Ported, Polished and Gasket Matched
P4286813 Springs,0.040 Overbore,
0.090 Shaved Head