Re: John's 1935 1201 Coupe for Two or Four Passengers, RHD in Tasmania

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2016/5/6 9:23:36

Should I take that as a bad sign?

Well, not a good sign, but not necessarily indicative of big problems either. Many an engine that failed to turn over after long hibernation has been returned to service without disassembly or repair. And on the flip side I've seen folks use a block of wood and a sledge hammer on the head of a piston to try to break it free from the cylinder wall. Your problem could be at either extreme or in between.

Best advice is to have a lot of patience, go slowly and gently, doing no harm. Two of the several probable reasons it won't turn over, one far more serious that the other. Could be just the rusting of the cast iron piston rings to the cylinder walls and treatment with things like PB Blaster or your favorite rust-busting snake oil and gentle persuasion may well break it loose. A more serious situation would be if the headgasket failed and ethylene glycol-based antifreeze got into the cylinders - that would corrode and swell the piston in the bore and require disassembly to begin to look at the repair needs. It also could be valves rusted to their guides - this usually (but not always) requires removal of the cylinder head to resolve.

If a couple of weeks of penetrating oil and gentle persuasion don't do it, I'd suggest you remove the cylinder head for an examination.

As to the fuel pump filter mesh, it's normally included in the better fuel pump rebuild kits and I'd consider a fuel pump rebuild a required job to put the car back in service.