Hi guys, sounds like theres progress, could i suggest when spraying the valve stem area with all types of hopefully release agents etc, try and lift the rubber umbrella seal up the valve stem as far as possble to let the oils run down the stem and into guide area, otherwise the seal does its job and keeps most of the penetrants out. OR If the rockers are off, remove the valve spring and the seal, i,m sure they are never going to fall down, it will help.! I,ve done this many times.  The key word here is PATIENCE !  They will free up! I had old Oliver70 tractor been in paddock for 50 years and frozen up, i had head off, bores soaking in all sorts of oils etc to loosen up, but everyday i would just hit down on the frozen piston with a block of hardwood, just 1 hit per day and eventually it broke free. Taught me Patience!. Good luck !Best regards Aussie bill.   

Warning! they are coming!

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

living in az,i know the past summers and winters have been less than forgiving.just my 2 cents,i'd locate a bore scope from

the local white mountain ford dealer up there and see if you could borrow it.pull all plugs and look in the cylinders to see just how bad they are contaminated.i would strongly recommend against putting something in the cylinder and turning it over.that may cause more damage than you want to get into.worst case senerio may be pulling the heads for further inspection.at least then you could tear down the heads and clean up the valves.something else you may want to consider is the fatige factor to the valve being subjected to contamination for a long period of time.good luck.jim in the valley

I hate to beat a dead horse but I need more advise. PLEASE!

I removed the 5,6,7,8 head for closer inspection. First of all, I found the exhaust manifold bolts extremely loose if it makes any difference in my problem. The valves on 5,6,7 were very rusty and stuck. Amazingly, the cylinders weren't too bad...at least in my opinion. I wet vacuumed out the crud and wiped the walls. Then sprayed them with PB Blaster which took off a lot more grime. I can still feel very remote roughness near the top of the bores. A good stiff wire brush and more Blaster cleaned it up pretty well.

My question for you guys is: If I find the passenger side head and cylinder in the same shape as the driver's side, would you be inclined to get the heads rebuilt and see what happens or just bite the bullet and tear the whole engine down or replace it? I know it is hard to give good advise just by my description!

I am still unsure of how the moisture got into the heads to begin with. It was running well when I put it away two years ago.

I am open to any and all advise. Thanks.

My wife said she would divorce me if I bought another car. It scared me so bad I only bought 3 last month!

You're not beating a dead horse, you're going to bring it back to life-if you are willing to stay after it.



Since you went ahead and removed the head you might as well remove the other side.

A picture of the heads and chambers, cylinders etc. would sure be helpful here.



Then you'll get some better advice.



The corrosion at the top of each cylinder might just be the ridge(the top of the wall where the rings don't make contact).

Once you remove the other head, and check out the walls with a similar process, you may be able to turn the engine over.



Again, how about some photos-much easier to asses the situation and make a judgement call.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

i'd pull the other head;inspect the other cylinders;clean them as you did before and turn the engine over by hand;also rub some oil over the cylinder walls liberally and have the heads worked over at the machine shop.They can inspect the heads for any damage and replace the valves and make sure there is no damage to the valve guides,then you should be good to go.jim in the valley

Oh, now that I removed the left head and removed the pushrods from all cylinders, the engine can be turned over very freely!!! Now that I looked closely at the #8 bore which is clean, the roughness is also at the top of that one too.

About how much can I expect to pay to have the heads reworked? Or should I just look for another set?

And no, I am not giving up on it. I will persist, but I don't want to throw good money away.


My wife said she would divorce me if I bought another car. It scared me so bad I only bought 3 last month!

Glad to hear it turns freely;that's a good sign.here again i'd suggest oiling down the cylinder walls to protect them while it is apart.As far as machine work goes,i'd do some shopping around.I think it is going to depend on how much of the head assy can be saved.I've delt with Bailey's machine shop on No. Country Club in Mesa, Az with good results,but i don't know what kind of distance that would be for you to drive.They have always been fair to me.Phone is 480-962-9756.At the very least they may be able to give a quote for a general idea.jim in the valley

There sure is a lot of good advice above.  I live in Oregon where it is cold, wet and rainy 6 months out of the year.  Due to worry about condensation and corrosioin in my motor in the winter months, and having it in a non heated enclosure. I keep a heat lamp underneath it with an automatic on off timer.  

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

UPDATE: I pulled the right head and found it to be much better than the left. The intake valve on the #1 cylinder was rusty and stuck but I can move it with a hardwood handle and a BFH. All other valves are free moving and the cylinder bores are clean. Once again, the exhaust manifold bolts were very loose if it should make any difference in why I got moisture within. I see no obvious indication of head gasket failure. At this point I can only assume that the block is sound and reworking the heads will cure my problem.

Any last thoughts guys before I bury this dead horse?

My wife said she would divorce me if I bought another car. It scared me so bad I only bought 3 last month!

A few thoughts for you to consider. If you are only going to drive a few times a month and never race why not just call some machine shops in your area and see what they charge for a stock rebuild. The last heads I had done (stock 302) were around $200 PLUS parts. Have the head surface checked for straightness and lay a metal straightedge on the block two surfaces. I think I remember you are in a remote area so maybe a set of used heads from a reliable source could be cheaper. Watch out for shipping costs, these heads are heavy. You should keep it simple. Did you ever find out why you could not rotate the crankshaft with the heads on? Let us know how it turns out. Pete