I have a '61 ply belvedere w/an aluminum block. All of the pushrods are working except the rear cyl. Any ideas on unsticking these 2 lifters without pulling the mtr? This car has sat for many years. Thanks for any help from some of the aluminum slant 6'ers.

These are mechanical (solid, no hydraulics) lifters, so you might have wiped cam lobe(s), unless the valves are stuck open (lifters "up").

I am sometimes more aggressive than others. I would remove the pushrods and repeatedly spray some penetrating oil on the tops of those lifters and let that soak for a while (at least 1 day). Then, try tapping on the tops with a disposable extra pushrod or some other long rod and a hammer to free them. If that did not work, I would probably fire up my propane torch and try some heat. Also, turn the cam around so you are at TDC for that cylinder and the lifters/rockers should be loose (have clearance).

Good luck with the alum motor. These are really cool, although sometimes finicky, engines.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Hey,

Nice car, what body style? Any pictures?

Second the penetrating oil, I'd go easy applying force with it but I'm always concerned about hurting somthing.

Kroil is generally a pretty well recommended penetrating oil on this board.

Afraid I don't know too much about these engines, do the lifters run directly inside the aluminium block? If so, galvanic corrosion (if it was sat with no oil) may be responsible for the stiffness? I'm no expert, this is the first advice I have given to anyone else . I'm sure others will chime in, they usually do for me!

Good luck with her!

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1960 Plymouth Belvedere 4 door sedan
Stock 60 225
Push button 3 speed Torqueflite
Right Hooker

the advice lou gave you is what we were recommended to do and did on my 67 dart that had sat for 9 years with a full tank of gas it had 3 stuck lifters and subsequently 3 bent pushrods, it ran fine after we tapped them loose, cleaned the lifters up and replaced them and the pushrods, had a spun rod bearing later, but it ran for a while after we fixed the lifter issue. good luck!

Its a 4dr Belve 3 on the tree. I've removed the rocker assy and watched the other push rods go up and down. By what i can tell the last cyl lifters are up and I can see corrosion around the top of the neck of the lifter. I don't feel good about this situation. I sprayed PB blaster and some Marvel so I guess it time to wait and see. I tried to hammer the lifter down with a pushrod and the piston up.

Hmm. If it's corrosion, that will be harder. Lifters ride directly on the alum bore surface. Heat may be the next thing to try, or maybe some small amount of muriatic acid - use sparingly or you might rip up the aluminum too much. One thing is that alum will expand more with heat than steel, so that's good.

I just had an alum block cleaned up and I couldn't get the oil pump out. After 3 days of soaking in a solvent tank, they said they had to put it in their mill and mill out most of the oil pump shaft!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Hmmmm....It's slower and more gentle, but you might try vinegar, Coca-Cola, or even molasses. Yes they will all react to the corrosion, in your favor. As I stated, though, they are slow, on the order of days to a week.

Roger

Coca-Cola might be my first resort. Second would be Mopar rust solvent p/n 4318 039AB. Next would be Kroil. Any of the hardware- or parts-store "penetrating oils" would not be on the list.

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I was thinking about pulling down the oil pan and removing the cam w/out pulling the mtr out of the car. Can I do it this way? Or should I just go through this mtr. I didn't intend on doing this much work on this car. Anyone have any ideas on how I can save some time and $$$$.