Hello Can someone tell me if I can remove the oil pan and pistons from my 1955 Ford Crown Victoria without taking the block out of the car. Thanks for any reply

Sure, you will most likely have to jack the engine up and rotate the crank to remove the pan.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

Being as 55/56 are about the same no probulmn ,Rotate the engine to put #1 piston at TCD to place crank rear counter weights up and pan will slip right out,

hoppys1956

Also, loosen big nut on side of sump at pickup tube, it lets the sump pivot down a little and i drop the 2 sway bar mounts so the sump can come forward enough to clear center x member, it works for me, regards bill.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I hope you are not talking about taking the pistons out from the bottom, they have to come out from the top with the heads off. The advise you have been given about pulling the pan is good and you should have no problem at all doing that.

Why do you want to do this in the car?  It's a lot of back breaking work

Here is the whole story, The car I purchased had its engine rebuilt 20 yrs ago  and never started. I can turn the engine with a socket on the crankshaft with lots of effort.  I was not happy with the effort needed to turn the engine . I did spin the engine with its starter and I did a compression check PSI ranged from 110 lbs to 40 lbs and every thing in between. SO I flooded the cylinders with marvel oil and then I removed the heads to see what was going on. As stated to me the engine has all new gaskets new pistons the cylinders are beautiful with the cross hatch pattern like new. BUT what I think has happened is the rings have started to rust and maybe have cracked. So I need to remove the pistons to install new rings I was told they were just cast rings . I work in my driveway and its starting to get cold here in NY I was just looking for a short cut , but I think I have to yank the block to make it a bit more easy on my back. That is the story. the car just sat 20 yrs with a brand new rebuilt engine now I have to rering it.

While you are at it take a good look at the heads for rusted valves and seats, also check valve stems and guides. If the stem is rusted to the guide you will turn pushrods into pretzels. If a valve sticks open it will contact a piston and we all know thats not good.

Good luck, hope you beat the weather. Was 65 on LI Saturday and I only got to work on my daughters buick

It will defiately be easier and quicker in the long run to pull the engine. Simpler than it seems.