Flooded, rusted and seized

[Stray Tate]

I have two decrepit 40 Special four doors. Nothing special. One has a seized (from flooding and sitting for decades, and a rusted through valve cover under a leaking hood) 263 from a 52. The other has a 248, said by previous owner to have been rebuilt but had a crankshaft problem. To my surprise, I found lately, after owning it for 35 years or more, that I can manually turn the engine over (with loosened bearing caps). It won't crank at all on the starter. I put the 263 in the better (but not by much) car in the mid 80s, when I only had the one 40 and two 52 parts cars. It ran and sort of drove, but had trans shifting vagaries. Then, as the Sunday School song puts it, "The rains came down and the floods came up." Both cars were flooded up to the headlights at least twice, and life intervened, so they sat. I've been playing with them lately, on a basically zero budget basis, and quite enjoying it. I have five pistons out of the 263, and the three solidly stuck ones marinating in vinegar. I think it may be possible to make one driver from the two cars. I pulled the 263 by separating it and the bell housing from the transmission, and read later in the service manual that the procedure is to pull the engine and transmission together. "When all else fails, read instructions." The seized trans is VERY reluctant to give up its grip on the torque tube, so much so that I wonder if I'm missing something. My brother says, "We have an app for that - a torch." What a kidder. But it could happen. I know enough to be dangerous.

 

['51 Special]

If the trans and the torque tube are still bolted into the body in which they lived, the usual practice is to pull the torque tube back. There are more than one way to do this. I pulled mine back with a come-along tied to the rear bumper. But mine had not been sitting in water, and yours is likely rusted to the flange that holds it to the transmission. If you are not planning to reuse a flooded and seized Dynaflow (and why would you), the solution is going to be a bit of heat and a bit of beat. Just make sure all of the bolts holding things together are loose to the extent of a couple of thread widths before applying the come-along, the hammer, and the heat. Good luck.
P.S. : In my world, a "come-along" is a portable cable winch.

 

[Stray Tate]

Thank you for that informative reply. I needed to hear the voice of experience. My transmissions (both cars) are manuals, and the flange bolts (torque tube to trans) are all out, as is the engine of the car. So my approach has been to attempt to move the trans forward. My persuasive efforts with an air chisel, big hammer and chisels, and an exploratory knife blade suggest that the flanges are not rusted together, and I speculate that the enclosed spline is the culprit. Hard to get penetrating oil and heat to it, but maybe I can put the come-along on the trans to pull it forward, while trying to wedge the flanges apart. The object is not immoveable, it just needs an irresistible force. The first quarter inch will be the hardest. (And any other expressions of self-encouragement that spring to mind.)

 

['51 Special]

In the interests of safety, I suggest you put the flange bolts back in, but left somewhat (maybe a quarter inch) loose, before winching the trans forward. If you don't, it may come loose with a bang. That could be seriously injurious to you or any bystander.

 

[Stray Tate]

Thanks, that's good to know. I'm a firm believer in paying attention to what those who've done the job tell me. I guess the torque tube is under torsion from the rear springs which make it want to jump upward if given a chance. Some Camaros have a torque bar running from the differential to the transmission, and I learned to watch out for those, too, without losing any teeth over it. I appreciate the "heads up."