MGB: freeing up stuck engine

by stuck, i mean it has not been run for a long time and there was little if any preparation for that before it was parked. The rings often "rust" to the bores and once freed (often by force and something squirted in the hole) don't act as springy as they are supposed to thus resulting in excess oil consumption, likely bore damage, etc.

We've all faced this to one degree or another.

In the current issue of Hemmings' Classic Car magazine (devoted to "murican" cars, none of them ferrin jobs!) there's a product announcement (not a test or review, simply reprinting an interesting product press release) for something that is supposed to assist in reviving such engines.

It is called "Engine Release"

for info, enginerelease.com

I have no connection with them, simply saw the notice and thought to mention it here because this is an issue that affects MG folks over and over again.

Interesting stuff Mac. I wish I had seen this prior to starting this 73 BGT engine that had been sitting since 84. Naturally, the stuff can't repair any existing physical cylinder wall damage but it just might help prevent any new damage from ring/cylinder wall corrosion when the beast finally fires up again. You're still rolling the dice it. There's no substitute for an actual head pull and look see.

Newt

The foist chore is to free the rings form being stuck to the bore, then second harder issue to deal with is getting the rings free on the ring lands of the piston, steel (rings) and piston (aluminum) does some natural weldng when corroded to each other. 99% of time when I see the situaction in on an old engine core that I have working with for rebuilding, so getting the rings freed in the piston ring lands is not something I have to worry about as the piston are going in the scrap pile anyway. The one time I had to reuse the pistons was in a customer's Huffaker race engine the guy he bought it from had let it in a damp place with no spark plugs in the head. I did the PB blaster deal for several days, and finally freed the pistons in the bore, then disassembled the engine, I tried almost ever trick in the book I had ever heard to the free the rings for the piston ring lands as they were frozen in place and not rotating. You name it I tried it, form PB blaster to heating to, to Pepsi cola, you name a remedy I tried it, nothing worked. In the end I made a tiny prick punch to remove the smallish 1mm rings from the the ring lands of the piston.

So from the expereinces I saw freeing the piston in the bore is the first obastcle you have to get by, but easier of the two jobs. I know several folks have claimed to free up an old stuck motor and got it back to sealing, this I don't doubt, but it probably at a cost most don't think about, If a piston ring is frozen in the ring lands of a piston, then chances are until it frees itself, it digging into the bore more than it ever would on the thrust side of the stroke until it has freed itself completely.

As long as there as been motor cars, there has been "miracles in a can" some have worked, most do not. Here's my concern if a chemical can release the bond between aluminum and steel when it is bonded together by corrosion, what would it do to even softer metals within a engine like the lead in a bearing.