1976 Chrysler 105 - winter project

[Arawak]

Grrrrrrr.

Got the harmonic balancer puller today and hooked it up. Tightened it up as much as I could with a ratchet. Pounded on the end with a hammer. Took the propane torch to it. Banged on the flywheel all around with a peice of hardwood. Cursed the #!@$#^% son of a bishop. Fired of the compressor and used the impact wrench to tighten as far as it would go.

So far all I have for my efforts is one of the holes stripped, twice. First time I re-threaded to 7/16" (they were 3/8" to start with). Then the same one stripped again. Dunno if I want to go bigger. Maybe a helicoil?

Maybe dynamite.

 

[oldboat1]

Hoist it by the flywheel (flywheel nut on a turn or two, wood cushion between the block and floor). Hang it an inch or so off the wood block, and leave it for a day or two.

Or, get the jaws back and give that a try** -- but as it's a tight one, would recommend trying to hang it first. Whichever you do, leave it alone for a while after the puller or hoist is in place. You may hear it pop loose. It's not subtle.

(**I've used a jaws puller a number of times, and have not had damage. While the harmonic balance puller is safer, I've stripped a couple of bolts too. Think the trick in either case is a two pound hammer along with a touch of patience. I've also hung a couple from a rafter, by the the way, and that works.)

 

[Arawak]

Hoist it by the flywheel (flywheel nut on a turn or two, wood cushion between the block and floor). Hang it an inch or so off the wood block, and leave it for a day or two.

Hmmm... interesting. I'll give it a try. Do I use a chain under the flywheel to hang it?

Or, get the jaws back and give that a try** -- but as it's a tight one, would recommend trying to hang it first. Whichever you do, leave it alone for a while after the puller or hoist is in place. You may hear it pop loose. It's not subtle.

In a fit of pique I put the three jaw on this morning and left it cranked with the impact wrench. Maybe when I get home something will have happened.

Think the trick in either case is a two pound hammer along with a touch of patience.

Ah, there's my problem... I don't have either of those

I may have been too gentle with the heat. I just went around the inner part of the flywheel until it was too hot to keep my finger on it comfortably.

Just used a regular hammer, tapping hard on the nut of the puller. Was worried about deforming the nut. But... surely the air impact would provide more vibration than the hammer?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[oldboat1]

Your chain would work, wrapping the flywheel. I've used a combination -- one of those mover's straps, and a chain. But hooking up a puller, as you have, may do the trick with some of that patience. Spray it with some lube, and rap it with your hammer once or twice a day. Tighten it down a little periodically too. I would recommend a wrench rather than a rattle gun. If no movement, rap the end of the wrench with the hammer. Some heat in the mix can help -- probably a little hotter than what you describe. Then wait. Then crank it and whack it a little more.

 

[Frank Acampora]

I have had a couple where I had to dance around them and they fought me every inch of the way. Worked up a real sweat. You very likely have cold welding with a rusted key. There is no short cut. Those three center holes do not contact anything under the flywheel so you can tap them through and get full length thread engagement. That is, at 1/4 and 5/16 size Larger holes MAY contact the distributor belt pulley flange. That's a chance you will need to take. Your only option is a heavy duty puller Like Harmonic Balancer and a LONG wrench Tighten as much as you can and rap with a heavy hammer--16 oz just won't do. There is nothing you can destroy with heat so heat the center as hot as a propane torch will get it. After you do get it off and remove the crankshaft, check the top ball bearing. If it is peened (brinnelled)and /or rough running, replace it. Go to NAPA. It is a standard bearing out of an older Ford rear end.

Let us know if the ball bearing needs replacement. It requires a special heavy duty shop press with a special bearing puller. Putting the new one on is easy though.

 

[Arawak]

Thanks again guys for all your help. I really appreciate it. Just finishing up work and then I'm going to have at her again.

 

[Arawak]

AND IT'S OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Arawak]

So I soaked it with WD40 earlier in the day. And then when I went downstairs after work I lit up the propane torch and got the flywheel pretty hot. A couple whacks with the big 5lb axehead I had in the garage and it popped off.

In the end, far easier than it could have been.

so now I have the bearing cover off, and all the bolts for the crankcase cover off, and I'm looking at two screws at the bottom and wondering if they are going to span.

Time to consult the manual.

 

[Arawak]

It's pretty much all apart now. Crankcase cover is off, and the crankshaft and the backs of the connecting rods are looking at me. I'm done for the night, but tomorrow I'll remove the rods/pistons one at a time, putting each set in a numbered plastic bag so I know where it goes back.

Picked up a cylinder hone at Princess Auto (the Canadian version of Harbour Freight) tonight... maybe tomorrow I'll get to use it. Uncharted territory for me. Will be watching a few Youtube videos first, I think.

Actually, I guess it makes more sense to hone after I enlarge the intake ports.

 

[fisheymikey]

good luck Arawak... ill be routing for your success!!

 

[Arawak]

Spent a couple hours today driving around the city trying to find a 12 point 1/4" socket to remove the connecting rods. No luck.

So, ordered a set of 10 on Amazon. I guess between now and Tuesday I'll have to content myself with scraping out old gaskets and cleaning the gunk off the various parts.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Do you not have a Sears near you? They are almost always in the hand tool section.

 

[Arawak]

Sears, at least here in Canada, has become a bad joke. Talk about a company that has completely lost the plot. Not content with selling out their brand to get a percentage on second rate services (I had "sears" do my roof years ago, much to my misfortune) they continue to close their eyes and hope that Amazon and Walmart will go away, rather than actually competing with them. Every year, they close or downsize a few more stores. When I moved to small town Ontario in the mid 80s, Sears catalogue was where you got just about everything. Kind of like a pre-Amazon Amazon. You'd think that would give them a clue. It is astonishing how much an incompetent management team can continue to rake in while a company slowly sinks.

(rant almost done)

I did go to Sears, but they had three 6-point socket sets and a few wrench sets in their "tools" department, and not much else. Predictably there was no sales associate there to tell me what I already knew... they didn't have it in stock.

Ah well, it gave me the weekend to get the garage clean.

 

[oldboat1]

Ha. Pre-Amazon. Sear and Wards catalogues in the'50s and before. Maybe turn of the century (as in early 1900s). Absolutely agree about the Sears demise, where they still have stores.

 

[Frank Acampora]

OH! You're from Canada--That explains a lot--Goofy Newfie--F---ing Canuk. OOPS, got carried away. Just joking! First wife was a Newfie from Belle Island (Wabana). Came to the USA when the iron ore mines closed and local economy collapsed.

Anyway, down around here Sears is not in the dire straights you describe. They still have a really good tool section (which is also sold at KMart.)

 

[Arawak]

OH! You're from Canada--That explains a lot

Yeah, our Sears just has the standard igloo repair kits, maple syrup buckets, and racks for curing canadian bacon.

Party on, eh hoser? :laugh:

 

[Arawak]

My set of small 12 point sockets arrived today and it's finally all apart. I had one screw-up... I accidentally put the screws and connecting rod end from #2 into the #3 bag already containing the #3 bits. I *think* I got it straight once I realised my error but not 100% sure. Also the needle bearings kinda went everywhere once the backs were off. Haven't counted them up yet to see if there's the same number in each bag.

Hope this isn't bad.

To my surprise, the top rings just pull away off the piston. The bottom rings are pretty well stuck on each piston... this may be part of my compression irregularities.

So... I guess next steps are to clean out all the gasket material from the various places where it's stuck in place.

And, start squaring out the intake ports. Going to have to work myself up to that

 

[Arawak]

Tonight, armed with my new variable speed rotary tool, I decided to start squaring the ports. First hole I got rough squared, but not tapered. Was pretty easy going actually, although I need to figure out better lighting.

More photos here -- Google Album

 

[Arawak]

However, I may have been premature. My buddy dropped by... he's a small engine mechanic and outboard enthusiast. He started looking at the pistons and saw some stuff he didn't like. And then we had a better look inside the cylinders and it looks like there's trouble on the bottom three.

Full album here -- Google Album

The damage is far more apparent in the photos than in real life. I've shown the worst one, number 4 piston and bore. Number 1 seems fine, but 2,3,4 are progressively worse.

I'm thinking that this is the end of the line.... back to a parts motor. I might be able to overbore and put in new pistons, but that will put the project cost well over $1000, which I think I'd rather spend on a three cylinder. Unless another cheap 4 cylinder comes my way first.