unseizing a piston

all-world1

Member
I've found a 350 sbc for the bucket. Water got into the carb and through the manifold. One, maybe two pistons are seized. I've heard that one of the best solutions to use for unseizing a piston is a 50/50 mix of tranny fluid and acetone. Has anyone used this mixture or any other recommended product?

Craig
 
Absolutely! I have had great success with a 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone on several occasions. Shortly, Grumpy will be by and supply every bit of what you need to know. Meanwhile here's a post from a great forum on this subject.
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OT - Penetrating Oil

In a thread in the antique machinery forum, there was a discussion what to use to free up a part. Southbendmodel34 had mentioned a study in Machinist Workshop stating that Automatic transmission fluid and Acetone mixed was the best.
I just received a newsletter today from Tim Carter mentioning the same study. He had included the results of the test, which I thought interesting.

http://www.kanolabs.com/

A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best!

http://www.freealloil.com/
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you might want to try this FREE ALL I found it works even better than most common penetrating oil sprays

Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ...................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............. 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds
 
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Thanks for posting that study Rich. Lots of products tested and it's quite interesting to see how each performs. Looks like ATF-Acetone is the way to go.
 
read the linked threads,
it may save you a good deal of grief ,

you may have never thought of, think things through to prevent problems


BTW if you have the heads off the block, BEFORE YOU RESULT TO USING A MALLET AND BLOCK OF WOOD...
heating a stuck piston with a heat gun then rapidly cooling it with a 50%/50% mix of MMO (marvel mystery oil)
and acetone repeatedly generally helps free up, stuck or ring rusted pistons,
if that does not work, get some dry ice to more rapidly cool the heated piston after the soak with MMO,


http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/can-you-unseize-a-seized-engine.5995/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/removing-rusted-broken-bolts.807/#post-1177
 
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I really Like Kroil Penetration oil.
Non Flamable unlike Acetone & transmission oil mix.
Kroil safe to use around open flames like an acetylene torch.
 
you really need to try the marvel mystery oil/acetone/ diesel mix in the seized cylinders it can take a few hours but it certainly works, and works better than anything else ive tried
 
you really need to try the marvel mystery oil/acetone/ diesel mix in the seized cylinders it can take a few hours but it certainly works, and works better than anything else ive tried
Never heard of Marvel Mystery Oil. Grumpy, is it 1/3 of each?
 
30% Mystery oil, 30 % Acetone and 40% Diesel and let sit a full day to a day and 1/2.
You can use the plastic pint cups from any paint or hardware store that has measurements on the side or just your kitchen measuring cup, or 2 12 oz cans and 1 16 oz. can.
I think it's safe to say all auto parts stores that sell oil will have Marvels Mystery Oil, Walmart too.
 
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most auto parts stores carry it, MMO,(MARVEL MYSTERY OIL) its just a high detergent high quality oil that can be added to most automotive oils to increase the level of friction protection slightly,its been used for decades with good results, its designed to leave a film on the surface of the valve train and upper cylinder and rings and from the results I've seen over the decades it's doing it's intended job of reducing sludge and reducing wear if you replace one quart of oil your using with the MMO.
yes on engine tear downs its seems to make a difference, yeah my friends say that its probably the result of my simply changing the oil regularly, but there's no denying the parts usually look like new even after 60-80 K miles
http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/
 
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Go to any Drug store and ask the Pharmacist (or the tech) for a squeeze bottle. Every Pharmacy has special order catalogs that you can order things like orthopedic pillows, commode chairs, and anything not on their shelves. There you can find squeeze bottles with long or short necks, adjustable necks for flushing out tight and hard to get to places above your head. Expect them to cost $0.80 to $1.50 each.
You can order just one, you don't have to buy a whole bag or box, and it will come from their ordering warehouse so there isn't any S&H and its there by the next day. Since its medical supplies there's no sales tax.
If you're lazy, ketchup and mustard bottles will not melt with that mix. Stuff a half of a cotton ball semi- tight up into the cap so that you can control a squeeze pump and it won't create a mess tilting the bottle while getting into a tight space.
 
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If you have a situation like wetting down exhaust manifold nuts and bolts and you don't want 90% dripped off to the floor. Add some shaving cream or gel to your mix and it will stay where y squirt it.

Oh, almost forgot. All Pharmacies will give you a pump syringe without a needle for administration of liquid medicine for free, you just have to ask. This is great for shooting into hard to get places and into spark plug holes. They also have tablespoon or 15 ml tube spoons with see through incremental measures in ml's oz's and tea and tablespoons for free.
 
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That's super information guys, thanks a million for taking the time. I'm away for 10 days and then I'll get right to 'er. Sure glad I joined this site.
 
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