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Just oil the block a bit and then drape some plastic sheeting or bags over the area; the bags will stick to the oil and prevent evaporation of the magic juice.

Got tired of looking at the ugly block, so tired it outside and took the wire wheel to it. Got quite a bit cleared off. Found some spots that look like the original paint color on it:




Looks more olive drab than gray. But can't be sure that the color hasn't been corrupted over time.

Block looks slightly better now




I was about to get 4 of the intake valves moving by using a good amount of heat. I put a torch on the intake hole and aimed it at the stem/guide. Then I adjusted the lifter up to force the valve up. With them moving and up off the seat I think I can get those ones out. Going to try and find an old school slide hammer with a valve attachment.

I'm going to try some Bleche White on the other steps to see if maybe it will dissolve the rust.

Your engine block, head, pan, water pump and valve covers should be Packard Grey which is available from Hirsch.

Quote:

Correct. I guess I was commenting on the color being far more of a greenish gray, which I think Hirsch supplies. BigKev painted his engine with the Hirsch paint and it's definitely more of greenish/olive drab tint. Picture of Kev's car:




I have a gallon of the Majik Massey Ferguson Gray that Ross uses. It's definitely more gray than the Hirsch paint, but still has a bit of green to it. I'll probably end up painting the engine and trans (assuming they can be saved) with the MF Gray since I already have it.

Over the years I've noticed quite a bit of variation in the Hirsch grey color and I once got a batch the same olive drab shade and may be even still have a small amount of it. Most that I've gotten, though, is definitely grey with no hint of the olive drab.

Here's what I've ended up doing to get the valves out. Once (if) I can get them moving I've been able to eventually knock them out using an open wrench and a small sledge. I'm not sure how much damage, if any, I'm causing by doing this but the valves have to come out and I have found no other way to get them out. All 16 valves were stuck to some degree. Most were very stuck. I still have 4 intake valves that are stuck completely solid.

Still no luck on the remaining 4 intake valves. I'm going to try a few other concoctions to see if I can get the rust to release.

In the meantime I removed the freeze plugs to check the inside. There is a decent amount of crud, more in the back, but not as bad as I expected. I'll blast it all out when I pressure wash the rest of the engine.

Did you try the secret sauce yet?

Why not just take the block to a shop and have it tanked to clean out the inside? That way you'll know you got everything. I’ve put work on hold on my 1951 Henney-Packard for that very reason as it’s in bad need of being cleaned out but my shop is too rural and without running water to do it myself.

Pgh - not yet, I need to get the ingredients. I'll get them on Monday, If I can find them.

Don - I may take it to get tanked. But I need to get all the studs out, as well as the cam bearings. But I'm not sure if I'll have them machine the surfaces at all. I kind of want to make this a home build and try to do as much as possible myself to see what works.


I'm going to retract my previous statement that the build up wasn't that bad. This is a small sample of what I dug out of a couple of freeze plugs holes. Much more where that came from.