freeing piston after nearly 30 years in storage?

[Sutterfield]

The skinny: '68 or '69 Remington 754G (civilian). As far as I know, was in good working order when stored sometime in the mid-80s. The spark plug was robbed, and mud wasps filled the top of the cylinder with egg casings, as well as the exhaust ports (accessed via spark arrestor). I disassembled the saw completely save for the piston/rod in the cylinder. I carefully chipped the mud and dead spiders out of the exhaust ports and alternated blasts of compressed air and carb cleaner through the spark plug hole. I left it sitting in a vise with automatic transmission fluid sitting pooled in the exhaust ports and in the top of the cylinder. Over a period of 24 hours most of the fluid in 2 of the exhaust ports leaked down inside the cylinder but the top of the cylinder was still full. There doesn't appear to be any corrosion on the inside of the cylinder walls. I was going to try a mix of ATF and acetone, but this is as far as I've got. I can't get the piston to move just by pulling down on the rod by hand. Obviously trying to avoid breaking the rings, and I doubt there's a magic answer beyond what I'm already doing, but does anyone have any advice? Maybe just some moral support? Being patient with it is the trickiest part.

 

[nmurph]

Heat, apply heat, and continue with the ATF. It may take a couple of weeks.

 

[dboyd351]

Maybe a little vibration? Heat?

I'm sure someone on here knows.

 

[barneyrb]

Patience is the key, it didn't lock up overnight and it ain't gonna be freed up overnight.....

 

[Modifiedmark]

Your asking for opinions, here is mine.

Dump that ATF out of that thing and spray a bunch of Aerokroil penetrating oil down in it and let that soak. That is the best thing for rust and stuck stuff there is.

ATF is oil, it lubicates.....

 

[Sutterfield]

I guess I shouldn't be afraid of a little heat since it is an internal combustion cylinder. I'll start easy with a little propane torch and hit it in intervals over the next week or two. I've got all of my parts cleaned up to go back together with it but I also have to wait to get them painted. I guess I'm getting old enough to slow down and think about it before I break stuff.

 

[RiverRat2]

Your asking for opinions, here is mine.

Dump that ATF out of that thing and spray a bunch of Aerokroil penetrating oil down in it and let that soak. That is the best thing for rust and stuck stuff there is.

ATF is oil, it lubicates.....

This is the best advice You have been given..... I would take it....

 

[67L36Driver]

Unless you are very lucky, plan on new rings as those are almost guranteed stuck in the grooves. Cylinder walls are crome plated so no worries there.

 

[k5alive]

have you tried soaking it in diesel?

 

[jughead500]

Yeap Mix some acetone with the ATF.ATF really is the best penetrating oil made.If you dont want to do the Acetone take straight ATF and Poor some in a can and heat the bottom of the can with a torch or set it on the wood stove to get hot then poor it in the plug hole and Ports.Broke many Cycle motors loose this way and actually a Toyota 22R truck motor recently.The Yota Motor had been setting for quite a while with 2 gallons of water in the Oil Pan.:msp_scared: Had it broke loose in about 10 minutes.

 

[bcorradi]

Heat, apply heat, and continue with the ATF. It may take a couple of weeks.

I agree with Neal...take a mapp gas torch and apply some heat to the cylinder. I've pulled many cylinders off using this method that I never thought I'd get off.

 

[Crow99]

Try "Ed's Red"

Best mix I've found for busting things loose is a "crossover" from my firearms stuff called "Ed's Red." (You can google that.) It consists of equal parts of ATF, kerosene, mineral spirits, and acetone. Originally intended as a firearms barrel cleaner, it does an excellent job on rust (better imho than Kroil) as well as hardened grease and carbon. I've used it for years and a friend with an automitive shop swears by it. You can mix it without the acetone if you need to preserve plastic parts, and it still works, although a bit slower. if you do use the acetone, you have to store it in metal or glass, since it will eat plastic overnight...
Hope this helps...

 

[mrnecsteve]

Take a compression testing fitting and adapt it to an air compressor fitting .Put it into the plug hole and start with about 10psi and progessively increase. (Setup the means to catch it when it comes out.) To figure out how much pressure is being applied ,use the formula area = pi r squared times times psi pi =3.14159 r equals 1/2 of diameter.

I suspect that the underside of the ring needs the most lubrication. I would use penetrating oil with the piston laying sideways,thru the exhaust port

 

[Sutterfield]

Yeah, as for ATF, it is pretty versatile, especially when mixed with acetone. It has a lot of detergents in it. In this case, its what I had handy. The carrier in a lot of penetrating oil sprays evaporates quickly, the ATF can set and seep over time. Would it be a terrible idea to pop it in the oven at 200 degrees for a 20 minutes or so, followed by sitting it outside to cool?

I don't expect this saw to be new or to cut like a new one. I just want to clean it up and get it running. If needs more after that I can dig into it, just trying to see what I've got in it. Good idea on flipping it over. I'll probably just soak the whole thing in a bucket.

 

[Abflyboy]

Your asking for opinions, here is mine.

Dump that ATF out of that thing and spray a bunch of Aerokroil penetrating oil down in it and let that soak. That is the best thing for rust and stuck stuff there is.

ATF is oil, it lubicates.....

Aerokroil is amazing! Patience is also the key here. Heat doesn't hurt either. If you don't have access to aerokroil, diesel fuel works wonders too. In a situation like this I usually get basic cleanup done then install whatever penetrant I want to use then leave it. For a while. Just my $.02

 

[nmurph]

I have seen it posted here several times-

Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student and professional machinist, Bud Baker.

*Don't forget the April 2007 "Machinist's Workshop" magazine comparison
test.*
**
*They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with
the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a
"scientifically rusted" environment.*
**

*Penetrating oil ..... Average load*

None ..................... 516 pounds
WD-40 .................. 238 pounds
PB Blaster ............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ..... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds

*The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50% acetone - 50% automatic transmission fluid.*
*Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one
particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now
use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about
as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price. *

I use PB bc I have several cans of it. I agreed with the ATF bc he was already using it. It probably helps to have acetone mixed with it.

 

[jughead500]

I like Aerokroil but I'm badly allergic to it.Had some on a grease rag in my back pocket one time and thought I was coming down with Neumonia for about 12 hours one day.finally threw the rag out of my pocket and felt better the next morning.Didn't know until i used it next time.:msp_angry:

 

[BDM53ENT]

Have to agree with the PB Blast. Used it many times to free pistons in 2 and 4 cycle engines. It could days before it happens so be patient as others have mentioned. Have tried ATF with no where near the same response, Havent ever tried Aerokroil so I cant speak for it. Good luck on it!

 

[rheima]

stuck piston

I have heard of people adding a zerk fitting to an old spark plug base, installing the ex-plug in the cylinder and pumping grease in to create pressure on the piston. Any thoughts?

Ray

 

[Justsaws]

The ATF needs to be thinned with a solvent. Acetone works very well, nail polish remover if you're married or perhaps a bit fancy.

Un-thinned ATF would be similiar to 10wt penetrating oil so it will creep veeeeeeeeeeeeeery sloooooooowly into tight fitted areas and float over joints. Thinned it will creep fast just like a branded penetrating lubricant.

Enough lube has to be applied to creep through all of the crude, rust etc. so it will probably take more than one application allowing for runoff, evaporation and what actually will get absorbed.

Becareful heating what has had various oils applied as the fumes and flash can be nasty. Probably not a kitchen stove project, especially after you take all her nail polish remover.