Thursday, May 21, 2009

FREEDOM! (Well, for the engine....)

Dustin here again.

As stated below, the TR3's engine was seized. Fred first filled the combustion chambers up (via the spark plug holes) with Marvel Mystery Oil. He let it sit for a month and then tried to free the pistons up by rocking the car back and forth while it was in gear. After 30 minutes, no luck.

Then he took the cylinder head off. He mixed up a concoction of WD-40 and Marvel Mystery Oil and poured it directly on the pistons. Another month passed and the rocking resumed. No luck again.

Then Fred read online about a technique where someone filled their whole crankcase with diesel fuel. The thought was that there would be a "penetrant" that would surround the piston and cylinder from the bottom and the top. Unfortunately, the crankcase would only hold about 3 gallons of fuel before it started pouring the rear main seal and dipstick hole. So, he just left the diesel sitting for about 3 days.

Still more rocking. No luck once again.

HOWEVER>>> On a whim, he decided to use the STARTER! The solenoid has a push-button on it that engages the starter. After hooking a starter battery to it...FREEDOM! The pistons turn!

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