BUSY BOLTERS Are you one?  The Shop Area
continues to pull in the most views on the Stovebolt. In August alone there were over 22,000 views in those 13 forums.
| | Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | | Forums66 Topics126,777 Posts1,039,270 Members48,100 | | Most Online2,175
Jul 21st, 2025 | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | Installing a rebuilt 235 in my 52 1/2 ton but I need a bell housing. I have one on a 50 235 thats seized from setting...I think. Since I can't turn the engine, I can't get the clutch out to get to the flywheel and bell housing bolts. Do I need to pull the pan and start disconnecting the rods? Can the seized engine be freed up...I sprayed the cylinders with alot of PB Blaster. Looks like #3 and maybe #5 are rusted. The starter is good but won't even budge the cylinders even with the head off. Any advice on the easiest way to to get that bell housing?
Last edited by ADspudnut; 08/28/2011 5:40 AM.
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 | Soak the cylinders with Kroil. It's better than PB Blaster at freeing up rusted pistons. www.kanolabs.comAlso, have somebody hold pressure with a pry bar on the flywheel teeth while you use a wood block close to the size of the piston and a sledgehammer to smack the pistons a few times. Shocking the pistons helps break them loose. The front plate behind the timing gears will make it very difficult to remove the crankshaft with the pistons still in place. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: May 2009 Posts: 117 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2009 Posts: 117 | kinda lost here... why cant the bell housing bolts be removed and just pry the tranny from the engine? | | | | | Joined: Aug 2004 Posts: 1,400 ODSS Lawman | | ODSS Lawman Joined: Aug 2004 Posts: 1,400 | Alex
Some of the bolts that hold the BH on are behind the flywheel. The clutch is in front of the flywheel and often you need to turn the flywheel so that you can access the 6 or 8 bolts that are hold the pressure plate to the flywheel.
SWEET Sergeant At Arms: Old Dominion Stovebolt Society BUNS?!?!?!Where we're going, we don't need no buns.....1950 GMC 450 1951 Chevy 1/2-TonThe GreenMachineIn the Stovebolt Gallery | | | | | Joined: Nov 2010 Posts: 304 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Nov 2010 Posts: 304 | I will second the Kroils . My 235 smoked like a train when I first installed it. Let kroils soak on top of pistons for about a week, started it up and no smoke since. Good no great stuff!!!
Last edited by Panhead59; 08/28/2011 1:11 PM. Reason: spelling
'52 3100 "once a Marine, always a Marine!!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 | Take the pan off, disconnect the rods and main caps and take the crank out. You will also have to remove the timing cover. If the engine is out of the truck, this is the easiest way to get the crank out. The crank, fly wheel and clutch assembly will all come out as one piece so it will be quite heavy. Use a hoist of some kind if you're by your self.
If you don't plan to fix the other engine, there's not much need in trying to free it up so you can turn the crank if you can simply remove the crank and get the bell housing off.
Even if you fix it later, letting it soak in Kroil as suggested will be a big help, but for now to get the clutch and fly wheel out of the way for the bell housing the fastest solution is to remove the crank with everything attached.
Last edited by Roy Rodgers; 08/28/2011 1:33 PM.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 Riding in the Passing Lane | | Riding in the Passing Lane Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 8,597 | If you dont care about the old engine pull the pan & cut the crank in front of the rear main.
They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne SuperIn the Gallery Forum | | | | | Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 | Would be quicker, but then if the crank is okay cutting it would ruin it. Sounds like it is likely stuck in the cylinders. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 | Roy, the camshaft has to come out first, and then the plate behind the timing cover can be removed along with the crankshaft. Sometimes it's a real PITA to get the cam out, especially if the lifters are stuck in their bores. It's usually necessary to destroy the camshaft gear to get to the thrust plate screws behind the cam gear. Easy if it's got a fiber gear, sort of a problem if it's the aluminum one.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,629 | 1981 was the last time I was inside a 235 or 261. Didn't remember having to pull the cam to get the crank out at the time. I remember there were places in the cam to allow the counter weights on the crank to clear.
So maybe pulling the crank isn't such an easy job after all. Oh well, I've been wrong before. I'll be wrong again on something. My bet is my wife finds that one.
Still, I think I would rather pull the crank if it is good, rather than destroy it. Even if it has a bad journal it can be fixed.
If the engine really is trash, and the only thing really needed is the bell housing, cut the crank as suggested. | | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | Great advice...I'd like to save the engine if possibe. I'll get some kroils and see if I can slam the pistons loose. If that doesn't work I'll try to pull the crank out with the clutch. Last resort...cut the crank. Gees, I thought setting my new engine in would take a few hours...now I'm tearing down the bell housing donor engine and into the second day. It's still fun tho. | | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | How long does the Kroils need to soak in the cylinders? | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 28,674 | The longer the better, but two or three days at a minimum. Pour 2 or 3 ounces on top of each piston and let it soak for awhile. On really tough ones, I've been able to drain the Kroil out of the oil pan after it seeps past the piston rings and pour it through again.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 | It is possible to remove the pressure plate by using wobble sockets on the ones on top. I have a 228 on my engine stand right now that I am stripping for the tin and I had the pressure plate out in less then 10 minutes. Then its simple to remove the flywheel and clutch housing. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 325 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 325 | I recall using wobble sockets on my seized 216 to remove the clutch in order to get the bellhousing iff, before setting it ob the stand and unseizing it. | | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | I see no way to access the 11 and 1 o'clock bolts on the pressure plate even using a wobble socket. There' just no clearance to reach those bolts on my 235. | | | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 4,903 | GMC uses the same clutch housing as your Chev. It works because I just recently did it. The 2 you describe are a booger to get to, but its doable. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 283 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 283 | Soak the cylinders with Kroil. It's better than PB Blaster at freeing up rusted pistons. www.kanolabs.comAlso, have somebody hold pressure with a pry bar on the flywheel teeth while you use a wood block close to the size of the piston and a sledgehammer to smack the pistons a few times. Shocking the pistons helps break them loose. The front plate behind the timing gears will make it very difficult to remove the crankshaft with the pistons still in place. Jerry I'd be very surprised if this approach didn't make it turn. The turning ability available using a good fitting pry bar on the flywheel teeth one at a time surpasses anything else you can do.Don't underestimate the value of the BFH applied to the piston tops. The pistons holding the most will be the two nearest the center of travel because of the crank angle--any of the rods you can disconnect will help the matter. If you have a torch at your disposal, heat the pistons from the inside if possible---stinkin,smokin hot, then go away until they cool completely. When they are heated they expand considerably--when they cool they contract from the walls and rust filling the space and get looser---apply again the BFH. Don't forget the wooden block to protect the piston tops. It can be made to turn. About that BFH, application to pistons on top or bottom of the stroke do nothing to turn the crank but do help break loose the piston to wall bond.
Last edited by enginenut; 08/29/2011 3:42 AM.
Bob Taylor
| | | | | Joined: May 2009 Posts: 117 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: May 2009 Posts: 117 | Alex
Some of the bolts that hold the BH on are behind the flywheel. The clutch is in front of the flywheel and often you need to turn the flywheel so that you can access the 6 or 8 bolts that are hold the pressure plate to the flywheel. ahhh ok thanks for tha insight | | | | | Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 469 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 469 | If you don't care about the clutch and pressure plate cut the centers out with a torch to access the fly wheel bolts. Be careful how you aim the cutting head so you don't get into the flywheel, the parts are thin and give it up real easy. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,775 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,775 | Tool #1 Huge pry bar
Tool #2 Lots of Penetrating oil
Tool #3 Curse jar (not to put money in, you may need something to smash later on)
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,775 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,775 | On the serious side. Lubricate everything generously. Also, take the side cover off and blast the lifters with penetrating oil too. They get carbon build up and stick over time. I had the same problem on a 235 I bought. It took lots of patience on my part, but it came apart.(3 days later) | | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | Thanks much...I was able to free the pistons with PB Blaster, ATF and a quite a few blows with a BFH using wood blocks. I got the engine to start turning using a pry bar on the flywheel teeth. I got the bell housing off and I'll be able to save this engine for another project. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 283 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 283 | Good for you Spud, you did some serious unstickin.But that would have been a lot more challenging if the engine were in the vehicle and the head(s) in place.A man can't be gentle with a shure-enuff stuck engine.
Bob Taylor
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2008 Posts: 88 | Found out why one of the guys questioned not being able to get to the clutch bolts with a wobble wrench without turning the engine. The truck has the 11 inch 8 bolt clutch and a non stock flywheel. Reaching those bolts is hard with a stock clutch but because this truck has a larger clutch there was zero clearance to the top 3 bolts. Now I need to find a stock flywheel so I can keep the 9 in 6 bolt stock clutch...off to the bone yard. | | |
|
|
