53 Chevy Straight Six Help

Anybody familiar with this engine? I pulled it today and am having a hell of a time getting the bell housing off the block. Theres four bolts holding, two at the top going from the outside of the housing to the block, and two are from the inside of the housing to the block. The two inside the housing are giving me alot of problems. Theres only enough room for an open end wrench and i can't get enough grab to pop them lose. There fucking on there. I'm sure tomorrow when i go look at it with a fresh attitude i'll figure it out but i'm frustrated right now and thought i would ask you guys. In the picture the bolts i'm working with are between the flywheel and the block. So anybody got any tricks or magic potions?

if you havent used any wd40 and tried like hell with a wrench then a powerdrill and new bellhousing would be my plan.

The fire wrench is your friend. After you get it good and hot, give the bolts a quick spray with PB blaster, Kroil, or something like it. WD-40 IMHO only displaces water, and isn't a real effective penetrating oil.

Usually you can just soak the bolts with PB blaster and let them sit for a while (overnight works) and you should be able to pop them loose with a bit of heat, even if you can only get an open ended wrench on them.

X2 on the PB blaster. That stuff is amazing. I use it all the time when restoring old motorcycles. Good luck!

PB blaster works good, but a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone works better

dude awesome progress! If you need any help let me know. Im more than willing

thanks for the help guys. i have no torch so heats a problem. haven't had time to try again yet but i soaked it in wd 40 on wed, we'll see what happens tomorrow

make sure you heat the block/where the bolt is threaded in as opposed to the bolt head. you dont want to expand the bolt, just the block/threads. i just turn that area orange, move over to the other side turn that area orange, repeat three times w/o stopping & theyll come out like they were installed yesterday...

well i tried heat yesterday and i still cant get the fuckers, there's just not enough torque with the open end wrench. so idk what i'm thinking about doing now

why are you taking the engine apart?

Old way, a last ditch effort (if you can get a pry bar in there to hold the wrench on the bolt head and pipe over the wrench for you missing torque and they will have to come loose OR BRAKE!

Then drill tap!

TWO PERSON JOB.

good luck

tim part of the problem is he can only get an open end wrench on it. i think he will round it off first. what about a 0 offset box end?

WD40 is not going to help. It is a water displacer. Try an actual penetrating oil.

where you got this beast? pm me an maybe we can setup a time to warm that sucker up this week.

overblown wrote:

WD40 is not going to help. It is a water displacer. Try an actual penetrating oil.

Thats what she said

brngrhd wrote:

tim part of the problem is he can only get an open end wrench on it. i think he will round it off first. what about a 0 offset box end?

I see that now, well you would thinK if a open fits a offset box will also? There has to be a way.
More heat maybe, (but with the limited space i can see that not working so well)

its in my shed in Cross plains. and i'm planning on rebuilding it this winter. Nate i'll PM you when i know what i have going this weekend. Steve sorry for my stupidity but whats a 0 offset box end? never heard of it. my big problem is i can only turn the wrench like 5 degrees, so i don't even know if its rusted on or stuck.

Do yourself a huge favor and join up here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/index.php?s=8e31b8333b6383a90fb149b358a5dbfb

the block needs to be heated not the bolt. since i have disassembled i dont know how many of those over the years ill show you the way/heat wrench is your friend & i will bring an assortment of sae wrenches...

im planning on going up to my dads shop this week to get my blast cabinet so keep me updated an ill load up the torch.

i've borrowed a torch, so i have one here. and i tired heating the block. i'm going to try some more tonight and if i can't get it tonight i'll give you a shout

normal wrenchs have the box end a slight angle..... the other ones are straight

thats kinda what i was thinking, but i got the some bitch last night, i ended up grinding down about half of a box wrench and got it in there. thanks for the suggestions and offers of help

Cool ,good luck on the rest of your project!

outlaw1 wrote:

Cool ,good luck on the rest of your project!

Yeah, keep us updated