ho-downer

****~~~HELP~~~~***!!!!,
I recently purchased a nice 1972 ZF Fairlane which has a 351 cleveland in which the Distributor is corroded in place.By that I mean that is it impossible to take it out of the block.I have tried soaking in the usual gear like Rostoff,Rp7 etc, also have tried lighly tapping to try and turn it hoping to break the seal all to no avail.(Just keep breaking small pieces of the collar)
The timing is out to buggery.
I'm told that if I snap it the motor has to be stripped to be able to get to the underneath of it & push it up that way.
Does anybody have a sensible solution as to how to get the bugger out without breaking it ?
Cheers
Ho-downer

snap

I would advise you to pull the engine out anyway , strip it down and see what you have as I have seen them old motors run hot due to all the water chambers clogged up with shit, better to find a problem than trying to fix it after it goes bang

ho-downer

Ta mate ,but I don't want to go to that extreme as the motor actually runs quite well. It is actually on LPG which combined with the timing being out makes it run hot but not excessively.

thefonz

Can you turn the dist? Soak with some marvel mystery oil for a few days. Somw sharp taps may break it loose.

boozyface

Got a small stilson on mine and gave it heaps... from memory I think I took the thermostat housing off first.

ho-downer

Thanks for the tips fellows.The dizzy works ok but the actual housing of it is stuck. I guess because water etc sits in that particular valley & I don't have any mystery oil however have just put some fine machine oil on it & will leave it for a day or so before using the stilson.Cheers

bigfellabikes

G'day, I know I'm a few years behind but I've got the same problem with almost the same motor scenario, great motor(has less than 10,000kms on it) but can't adjust timing. I've been soaking it in diesel & Inox, to no avail, and am now giving vinegar a shot. I've had my engine crane on it and almost lifted the front of the F100 off the ground by the dizzy...it's well & truly seized!! Does anyone have any other methods they can recommend?? I'm going to give the vinegar a few days but after that I think I'll have to remove the radiator, water pump housing etc, give myself some room and give the stilsons a try. Any suggestions??
Cheers,
Paul.

bigfellabikes

G'day, a quick update for those that are interested. Got the dizzy free, had to remove the thermostat housing to make a bit more room got a small set of Stilsons onto the dizzy and with a bit of slowly increasing force it finally moved. A bit of wriggling back and forth and it was eventually free. Truck is finally running on gas. Yee Hah.

R.S.LOGAN

Good to hear you got it sorted out , thanks for update .

George1861

Common on Clevos!