g741.org

July 2, Since my last post, I changed the door latching mechanism on the driver’s side. It had a broken spring preventin the latch from working. What a pain working from the small access.
Engine is still stuck….waiting for transmission fluid to work its magic. I may have to try some acetone in the mix.
Rain is keeping me from doing much, so I may jack it up and start repairing the brakes. May start by rebuilding the master cylinder.

Door latch spring issues are common on these trucks. Mine too await replacement whenever I get around to it.
Thanks for the update!
Gary

I added a little PB Blaster to each cylinder along with the ATF. I hope its heavier and gets to the rings. Ordered a new master cylinder. I just don’t want to fool around rebuilding the old one.. I have new wheel cylinders and brake lines. I can only work a few hours a day until the heat wave subsides. Being in South Florida that will probably be October!

Definitely be mindful of the heat! Here in Utah it'll be triple digits regularly until September. Work early in the morning or just before sundown to maintain some progress! I made a dump run last week-always an interesting trip backing up the M37 to offload.
Gary

It has been in the 90s. It is too hot to do anything too strenuous. I have been keeping the cylinders soaking. I am still a little concerned with the cylinders that are staying full of the ATF and PB Blaster. I came up with one of my crazy ideas today. I made an individual temporary head that I can bolt down and pressurize the cylinder, hoping to aid in the capillary action of the penetrating oil. Wish me luck. Let me know if you think it is silly. It has been soaking for weeks now.

I also have been cleaning up the head bolt threads.

tarawa,
What's your goal with this engine?

I'm concerned that when you get it unstuck and run it you will not be happy with the result and may do more harm than good. The bottom end may not be in very good condition and running it may do further damage and drive up the cost of a long term fix.

Andy

The engine hade a compete overall about 10 years ago. Was a daily driver supposedly. Then water got in from an open spark plug hole. I am just wanting to get it running.

That's an interesting option-pressurizing the cylinder to force the piston. However, you're trying to move all of the rotating mass using a single pressure point. Perhaps you'd have more luck if you could somehow pressurize all 6.
Just my 2 cents,
Gary

If it were me, I'd use your close-off plate and connect a small hydraulic hand pump & oil.

The Porta-Power pump comes to mind, and it will develop enough pressure to turn the crank without a doubt.

Compressed air can give quite a explosion if something goes loose, whereas using a liquid doesn't have that inherent danger.

The same thing is done, more or less, with water to hydro test high-pressure welding tanks.

PoW

Well, I guess i didn’t explain what I wanted to do. The air pressure isn’t for actually breaking it free. it was to help the JB Blaster help penetrate the rings. Unfortunately it has been holding pressure for a week now. You would have thought it would have leaked down by now.
Since it has been hot as heck outside, I haven’t been doing much. Then Debbie is dumping rain. There was a pause in the weather and I decided to go over the brakes and seals. brakes are as simple as they come. If it is nice tomorrow, I will finish the front brakes and hopefully switch out the master cylinder. I was going to rebuild it, but a new one was only $65.00.
Every little job gets me closer to getting it running.

Has anyone noticed that the price of brake cleaner has doubled in the las few years?
12 cans for $56.00 at NAPA

Things I have learned so far:

Wheel cylinders are left and right.

Something i knew but almost forgot. left hand threads on drivers side lug nuts.

Prices on everything are through the roof.
Keep making progress a little at a time-thanks for the update!
Gary

A little bit of progress is better than none at all.

Regards,
Bert

I learned something this week.
#1 Use the manuals!
#2 Don’t take for granted that the previous owner did things correctly.

I replaced the front wheel cylinders the same way they came off. They are backwards, so now I have some rework to do. I found this out when I removed the rear wheel cylinders and only one was marked with an “R” for right side. It was correct, left side was not marked or correct.