Stuck 53 308

Unknown

A gas station nearby is working on a 53 Hornet with a supposedly stuck 308. The story I got was that the engine was running when stored 3 years ago but is now stuck. The car is in excellent shape and was stored in a garage.



A quick look at the car leads me to believe that it is unlikely that the engine became stuck in only 3 years when well stored. They've tried the usual stuff to free up the engine, but I'm curious if anyone knows of any scenario with an accessory or the hydra-matic that might simulate a stuck engine?



Thanks in advance,

Warren

Unknown

If the Hudson was garaged three years ago with a head gasket leak it very well could be stuck hard. There is nothing attached to the engine including the transmission that will lock up the engine. First step of the evaluation is to pull the head and take a good look not a guess.



Fred

Jon B

It could just be rust. I live outside Washington, D.C., which can get awfully muggy in the summer. About 25 years ago, during a particularly sticky part of the summer, I let my Terraplane sit for several weeks, undriven. When I finally tried to start it, the engine had frozen up tight. I finally pushed it out of the garage, rolled it down a hill and popped the clutch. That's all it took to bust it loose.

Uncle Josh

And with the head off you can get solvent around the rings where the problem probably is.



Try to turn it every day for several days. If it doesn't come loose, remove the pan and rod caps and deal with each piston by itself.

Unknown

Hi There guys,

I just freed and got the 262 in my 54 wasp running. It had been stored for 20+ years and the previous owner had tried for months to no avail.

To begin with I pulled the spark plugs and jacked up the passengerside of the car as far as I could safely go then I added a 50-50 mixture of gasoline and Marvel Mystery oil to the spark plug holes, let the jack down and tried the starter and a 1" drive ratchet on the crank bolt to turn it. I continued this for about a week when I finally got about 1" movement. I continued knowing that if I got any movement I could get more. After another week I got frustrated with no further movement and pulled the head. Yuck, the car had been stored with a leaking head gasket and talk about rust. It with the marvel oil was disgusting. I cleaned it as best I could and ran a dingle ball hone down the cylinders where the pistons were down and used a rotary wire brush on the others. Using the 1" ratchet and starter I kept trying with every penetrant I could think of finally it moved a 1/16", 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", 1" and then wa-wa-wa-wa it spun free. I ran the hone down all the cylinders and cleaned them up. All cleaned up remarkably well except for #6 the one with the most rust. I put a new head gasket on and tried to start it. It had so much oil in the manifold, etc. that it kept fouling the spark plugs. So I pushed it up on the dolly and had a friend pull me at 35 mph while I turned on the ignition and engaged the clutch in third gear. It worked. The smoke was fearsome but lessened. It has been starting on its own and the smoke diminishes daily and people have stopped flipping me off now. It's been two weeks now and I have to say that Stephen King should have used a Hudson in "Christine" cause Plymouths have nothing on Hudsons.

Rustjunkey

[Deleted User]

Hi Hudson Dave here . Some one talked about this not long ago . My two sense worth . if it is truly stuck pull the plugs look down the holes with a good flash light if you do not see water in any of the holes put a few oz of brake fluid in all spark plug holes . (enough to cover the top of the piston by a 1/4 inch) Give it 24 hr if it is going to come loose it will . If it dose not pull the head . LOL Hudson Dave

Unknown

I agree with Fred. I'd pull the head if it was only setting for that short of time. I would bet that there was leakage from the water side into one of the cylinders.

SuperDave

First make sure the starter isn't jamed into the flywheel!:eek:

Unknown

SuperDave wrote:

First make sure the starter isn't jamed into the flywheel!:eek:

I suggested that they check the starter but haven't had a chance to check back with the service station to see how they're doing.



Thanks to everyone's suggestions. It sounds like a coolant leak is the most likely scenario.



Thanks again.