Hi there, I am working on dismantling a 260 v8 engine.

At the moment, I have removed everything except for the crankshaft, camshaft and pistons.
Since I live in the Netherlands, I ordered a set of 6-point sockets with inch sizes to take everything apart.

But when I removed the part that covers the crankshaft (oil pan/carter?) I saw that the pistons are put on the crankshaft with 12-points nuts.

I also noticed that the gap between the nuts are the rest of the piston is very small. I'm really worried that if I buy a regular socket, it won't fit. See the attached image, it's the 't' that I'm worried about.

UcJgf.jpg

So I was wondering if you guys could help me with these two questions. I would really appreciate any help because inch-sized tools are very hard to come by over here.

What size/kind of socket do I need to remove these nuts.

Do they need to be some kind of special thin-walled socket or will regular sockets fit as well?

Thanks in advance,
Bas

 

My normal Craftsman 12 point sockets work just fine. Once you remove the cap from the rod, be sure to slide a piece of rubber tubing over the exposed screw threads before you remove the rod from the crank. This prevents scratching the crank journals.

 

I have had no problems with a good quality 12 point socket 1/2 inch drive....craftsman, snapon, williams. Do not buy junk. On another note the 260 is low performance, perhaps a bigger Olds smallblock would be a better choice. The cost to rebuild would most likely be the same. I understand though originality is important too.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SNAP-ON-3-8-...#ht_500wt_1203

Universal type makes access possible on rusted up engines which I seem to be destined to work on.

For a long time I could not find a snap-on impact swivel socket so I cut the 12-pt part off a socket and welded it onto the swivel part of another tool, and made one.

If you just need ONE socket, the 9/16", that should be easy.

Esp. if you can make do w/o the universal joint type.
Do you have Sears/ Craftsman tools over there?

Nice rendering, by the way

 

Thanks for your quick response guys!

I won't be rebuilding it. I got this 260 from a guy in the area who deals in classic american cars. The engine has been rusting away for some years and will probably never run again. I wanted to take it apart to take a good look at the inner workings of a v8 block. When I got everything dismantled I might make a coffee table out of it.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Are you talking about a store or a brand of tools? We have a lot of high-end tool manufacturers over here, but they only have mm-based tools. If they have inch-based tools, it's usually a super-expensive set of 200 tools, or they have the wrong sizes or drive.
The sockets I'm using on this block came from the UK, but it takes about a month for those tools to arrive through the mail.

Also, I was wondering, do I need a swivel-socket, or are the regular sockets fine too?


Oh, btw, here are some more pictures of the block, for those who are interested:

4dqEB.jpg

pk3NP.jpg

ZEhIl.jpg

 

Sheesh! what a gloppy mess!
Glad to hear you aren't spending money on that.

Sears Roebuck & Company is a large store in the US.
Craftsman Tools is a Sears store brand, which is commonly sold across North America. They are good quality, low cost tools for home mechanic.

 

Keep the rod caps in order to reassemble onto the same rod as it was on originally.

 

That's nasty
at least it's oily and not rusted.
You only really need the swively socket if you cannot turn the crank to bring the next rod into a favorable position.

Sears store Craftsman brand tools are basically the minimum quality stuff for occasional tough use. Real mechanics that use tools all day every day rely on the superior suppliers- Snap-on, Matco, Mac.

Can you not order tools from ebay?
If all you need is a few sockets, I have literally 100's of extras, and the local buy+sell store has 1000's for dirt cheap. I reckon shipping would be pricey for more than 1 or 2 sockets, but if you only need, really NEED one, I will be glad to send one.

Speaking of which, surely you know there are equivalents or nearly so in metrics?

8mm ~= 5/16"
10mm is a tiny bit larger than 3/8"

11mm ~= 7/16"

13 is a molecule larger than 1/2"

14mm is just a bit smaller than 9/16" - can you get a 14 on it?

15 mm matches NOTHING fractional, there is no substitute.

16mm is about 5/8"

17 is nearly 11/16"

18 is like 15, you just gotta have it, and it's GM's favorite size. And, curiously, often omitted in Sears sets for some reason.

19mm and 3/4" are pretty much interchangeable.

 

I looked a little further online today, and I managed to find some tool companies that have this 9/16 swivel socket. Unfortunately they are very high-end and cost $35 (a piece).

So I tried a search on ebay and came up with these:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/KAL-USA-9-16-...ht_1574wt_1298
http://www.ebay.com/itm/230720614268...ht_2798wt_1163
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280592761747...#ht_500wt_1180
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370639570994...ht_3612wt_1163

Are any of these any good? They all seem used, but I think it's the only option I got.

 

Those should work. I'd get the 3rd or 4th one....the snap-on unit. I am in the USA however.

That first one on NL Ebay may work for you, but I have no experience with that manufacturer.

Before all of that, I'd try my 14mm 12 point and see if that would suffice.

 

Just a note of clarification:

You only need the swivel (universal-joint) sockets if the pistons are frozen and you cannot turn the crankshaft.
If the crank turns, a regular 12-point 9/16" socket should work fine.

Used sockets from a good manufacturer (Snap-On, Craftsman, etc.) should be fine and last forever.

Have fun!

- Eric

 

I haven't got any 12 point sockets. The only 12 point tools I have are (ring)wreches, but they are to thick and can't acces the nut because of the narrow gap I mentioned in the first post.

Anyways, I've ordered the swivel-socket. I'll let you guys know how it goes when it arrives. Thanks for all the help.

 

I used a 12 point 13mm head out of my father's tools for my rusted-out engine.

 

The swivel socket arrived yesterday and I was able to make a lot of progress. The crankshaft came out without any problems, as well as one row of pistons.
The other row, however, is rather stuck.

The local gearhead in my town recommended soaking it in linseed oil. I filled up the cylinders and let it work for two weeks, but that did not have any effect. Do you guys know any good techniques for freeing stuck pistons?

Here is a picture of the stuck pistons:
2zVgX.jpg

And here's a big version for more detail: https://i.imgur.com/2TlIV.jpg


And the other row without the pistons:
C1xZL.jpg

 

I wouldn't use linseed oil. I'd use something thinner, like penetrating oil.

If you don't have access to a good penetrating oil (such as KROIL), then you might want to try a 50:50 mix of ATF and acetone (since this is a bunch of open cylinders, which will have to soak for a while, you may need to add more acetone as it evaporates).

Then, after at least several days of soaking, hit it HARD with a BF hammer .

- Eric

 

Hey guys, sorry for the long radio silence, but I have been away on vacation and school has begun as well ( ).

But on a happier note, I finally managed to get all the pistons out. Eventually WD40 combined with a 10 pound hammer and a 4 ft crowbar were too much for those bloody pistons. I'll post some pictures in the weekend.

So now that the hard part is over, how to I remove the camshaft? Does it need to come out pully-side or flywheel-side?

And once again, thanks for all the kind help!

 

Pulley-side.

 

The cam comes out through the front.

You have to remove the lifters first or they'll keep it in.

- Eric

 

So here are some pictures of the completely disassembled block


Noorj.jpg

This was the last piston to come. I had to use a 3ft crowbar to slam
it out, so it was damaged a bit.


QGjx8.jpg

Thankfully the rest came out relatively easy.


u7aWc.jpg

And this all the junk together. In the back is a 4-speed that I might take apart next.

 

hyyyper-
I admire your perseverance...
Wondering what possessed you to dismantle a rusty 260? Practice for the real engine in the background? I have done similar, once or twice, but frankly the only parts a 260 can donate to an engine considered worthy are... dipstick, distributor, timing cover, and rocker covers.

Unless you want an economical engine that is still an Olds V8, I guess??

 

...But only if you want 5-bolt rocker covers .

- Eric

 

To be honest, I don't think there's anything salvageable from this engine. I've seen wrecked engines in better shape than this one.

But yeah, this project was just to practice a little with V-engines. I might get myself a real (and operational!) classic in a few year and a little experience can't hurt.