I have the service manual but can't figure out how to remove this.. Trying to get the engine onto a stand to start the teardown and re-build this winter..

the beast

i am not sure if the converter unbolts from the flex plate----but to get the flex plate off you will have the raise the engine up and do it from the bottom---there will be 8 bolts and nuts holding it on and it is a tedious job---when you rebuild tap the crank holes for bolts---bob

Maybe get at bolts thorugh the starter hole.

OK.. Great.. I see the bolts but what if the engine is frozen and I can get the TQ to turn? Any suggestions?

Seriously

The early converters like yours have studs that stick through the crankshaft flange with nuts holding them on between the crankshaft flange and oil pan You need a real long skinny flat open end wrench for that job, they use to sell them, there called flywheel wrenches BTW, I have had to remove the crankshaft from the bottom when the pistons and rings where stuck in the bores, not fun Do you know whih year motor you have? It will have a number cast into the front of the block on the passenger side in front of the lifter valley cover, IE NE(New Yorker)C3(300 motor ) or a letter (LE amybe) for Imperial, I can't remember that one . The two numbers after the engine I.D. code will be the year model, IE NE52,NE53,LE54 C355 and up to 58 and so on 52 to 55 are 331C.I., 1956 are 354 and 1957 and 58 are 392. There used to be a lot of other Chysler hemi motors out there from trucks, marine, power and pumping plant applications

ok,

It is a 1956 Desoto Firedome Hemi 330...I was hoping to get it on an engine stand before I started the heavy lifting but I guess I am in for an adventure... Tx

Keep us posted, I have 2-392's and a '55 331 with stuck pistons and
the convertors still on...
I have the wrench (long 5/8 open)but can only access 2 of the eight
nuts without needing to turn the crank.

when i have a stuck motor i pull off the heads---then turn it over and pull the oilpan----do whatever you have to do to pull the crank---the pistons that come easy come out first--clean the bad cylinders as much as you can--i sometimes soak with diesel fuel--i have used a steel drift and my largest hammer to drive the pistons out---try not to damage the block more than necessary but remember these old hemis have been bored to 50 over without problems and some can go to 90 over---hey its all fun----bob

No flex plate.It bolts to the crank.All the early 8 bolts were like that.Had the trans out of my 60 Dodge a lot.I believe they are either take a 5/8s or 11/16s.Rocky

Rocky,


Is there a way to turm the TQ when the crank appears to be stuck? The cylinders look ok when I shine a flashlight into the spark plug tunnel but when I place a socket on the crank she dousn't budge..

Other than pulling the heads none that I know of.Try pouring ATF and kerosene in the cyls.That might break it loose.Let it sit for a day and try turning one way then the other and see if it turns.Keep trying for probally a week.Ive had a few motors that freed up using that combo.Seems I had a super long wrench that I used to be able to slip down in and get them loose no matter where they were.Rocky

you are pretty much spinning wheels thinking about it--pouring stuff into all the cylinders is just going to leave a bigger mess on your floor----pull it apart and deal with the 1 or 2 bad cylinders---it is really hard to spin the crank with the damper nut because the pistons want to rise-(50/50 chance)---with the heads off you might be able to tap them down in the bore to break them loose---bob

Take off all the sheetmetal, Pull the heads, Cut the chain, take off all the rod caps and knock the pistons out, remove main caps and lift out the crank. Now you can access those converter nuts, Welcome to Early stuck Hemi 101

I saw one of those in a junkyard when I was about 18 and I wish to this day I'd tried to get it. The DeSotos are big enough to make power but small enough to fit in quite a few places.

More than anything else you need patience to not break anything while you're trying to get things apart. And a mess on the floor isn't necessary if you take precautions. I'm going through this right now with a 59L Ford flathead block. Even though you're going to replace things, try not to break stuff as you're disassembling the engine.

Kroil can help, or Gibbs penetrating oil. It took several days of pouring Diesel fuel into the spark plug holes on my 1928 Allis-Chalmers E to get it free enough to spin with jerky applications of the clutch while being towed by another tractor.

Getting the crank out seems like a good first step.

If you're going to try to push pistons out push on the underside of the piston head or on the wristpins. Pounding on the connecting rods can have bad results.

Lye solution will eat the pistons if all else fails. Put it in a hot tank for a week.

R.

On one engine that had a head gasket failure leading to pistons being glued into the block by the burnt anti-freeze, I used a length of rebar to blow off the piston tops and then jacked the piston using a 50-ton hollow core jack with 5/16" wire rope looped around both sides of the wristpin. The wire rope went through the jack with clamps on the top. After the pistons were jacked up to deck height they drove out from the bottom with a 2x2 and dead blow hammer. This block cleaned up at 0.020 over.

SHE MOVES!!! I just kept spraying WD-40 into the spark plug holes then tried going back anf forth with the crank bolt and she moved. I still can't get the TQ thruster bolts to budge, but I removed more goodies. Everything is being bagged and tagged. So far I haven't broken or stripped anything Here are a few more pics

the meat of the hemi