Topic: Engine seizes up


tore    -- 06-27-2011 @ 3:02 PM
  My 1932 4 cylinder C-block seizes up when driven too (?) hard. After 5 minutes stop runs OK again. No problem when driven slowly. Oil is OK.



supereal    -- 06-27-2011 @ 3:09 PM
  Is this a new problem, or one that happened after a rebuild? More often than not, it is due to poor piston and piston ring gap fitting. The pistons swell when they are hot, and will eventually ruin the block if not corrected.


tore    -- 06-27-2011 @ 3:40 PM
  The engine was rebuilt approx. 15 years ago, only started up a few times before taken on the road this year.


supereal    -- 06-27-2011 @ 7:03 PM
  I'd go with the piston/ring fit. If the rod and or main bearings were set too tight, it is likely the poured bearings would have failed by now, and severe knocking would be evident.


Stroker    -- 06-29-2011 @ 3:58 PM
  Tore:

I'll go with Supereal's suggestion for the same reason's he stated. Pistons for more modern
engines were designed with slots, cast-in steel bridges and other compensating features often referred to in contemporary literature as "auto-thermic", that limited their expansion under heat.

A stock "replica-style" Model "B", (Ford USA didn't use the "C" designation for 33-34 engines), piston would not feature these expansion-limiting concepts. As for the rings, I would always go for more, rather than less piston gap, as the result of the rings binding can be even more destructive to the bore than pistons that seize in the bore. I'd pull the head,
and look for cylinder wall evidence of aluminum deposits or ring damage.

Having said all that, I find your photo very interesting, as Ford in the US didn't feature a truck cab like that until 1935. Perhaps you Scandinavian's inspired something a little more modern than the Model-A style box with visor that we had.


tore    -- 06-30-2011 @ 3:09 PM
  Thank you for suggestions.
The truck cab is not original. The car has a history of 12 previous owners from the start as Commercial Chassis, I believe first assembled in Denmark 1932, imported to Norway 1933, where a delivery body was produced in Gjøvik (?). After hard use, and a war, the car was given somewhat like todays cab, model A engine and 39 axels with hydraulic brakes. I found the car along the road in 1973 (see photo) and slowly worked on it since - now finally on the road. You could call this a hobby or madness....


tore    -- 06-30-2011 @ 3:11 PM
  The pick-up found in 1973.....


Stroker    -- 06-30-2011 @ 4:11 PM
  Tore:

That's amazing! If that is madness, then we are all mad. It's too bad our old Fords can't talk,
as your's would have quite a tale to tell. You should be proud to have resurrected a true veteran.

Thank You for sharing a little background. I hope you find the source of your seizures, but in any case I believe the quickest way to trouble-shoot the problem will be to pull the head and make some
observations of the cylinder walls.

The war produced many interesting variations in Ford in the US as well. I'm a Station Wagon fan,
and there were some interesting Olive-Drab painted veterans, a number of which had 4-wheel drive.


shogun1940    -- 06-30-2011 @ 5:10 PM
  when you take it apart, check the ring lands for carbon that was not cleaned out, had a student one time who did not listen and had to take it all apart for the lack cleaning properly., great truck and story


TomO    -- 07-02-2011 @ 9:04 AM
  Tore, you have given a new meaning to "Found on the Road, Dead" which was a popular saying about the meaning of the name Ford.

I hope that you solve your problem so you can enjoy your truck. It will be a lot of fun, once you are able to drive it. You have done a great job of bringing it back to life.

Tom


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