So I'm working on tearing down my old 305 shortblock that's been sitting on a stand for about a year and a half now...

Is there an easier way of removing the pistons (getting them over the ridge on the top of the cylinder) than having to use that ridge reaming tool?

I've never had much luck with those devices, they always seem to cone the top of the cylinder.

 

Can you not tap them out through the bottom of the cylinder rather than out through the top?

 

X2. That's the way I've always done it.......

 

You took the pistons out the bottom on an SBC?

 

It's been awhile since I was inside a motor - I don't remember - but can't you remove them out the bottom? I mean of course after removing the connecting arms from the crank, and maybe removing the crank as well. Isn't the cylinder just that, a symmetrical cylinder being the same size from top to bottom?

 

You got me thinking- I was wrong- I had the engine on the stand and it was upside down- so I guess it I did take them out the top.

I get the DDA award for the day .

 

OK - so maybe you can't tap them out the bottom. Maybe I also belong in the DDA club today!

{ especially when I'm not even sure what DDA stands for! }
{ but WTH, at least I can say I belong somewhere! }

 

The cylinder is no problem, it's the main webbing in the way.

 

DDA is "Designated Dumb ***" award .

 

DDA sounds good to me - I'm in!

 

I'm just gonna try to pound them out over the ridge. I don't care what happens to the rings or pistons. IMO that ridge tool just ruins the cylinder walls though.

And yeah, if you were to pound them out through the bottom of the cylinder, you're screwed...

 

Ive never had a problem poping pistons out the top of a block. Just flip the block upside down, pop off the rod cap and gently tap the rod down making sure to have a hand ready for then the rings clear the bore. And another hand to make sure the rod doesnt knick up the cylinder wall.

Or am I missing something here?

 

Depends how worn the cylinders are. The rings don't travel to the top of the cylinder, so wear leaves a ridge at the top that stops the rings and keeps everything from coming out.

 

Ah, Ive never had that problem.

 

Just hammer em out as hard as necessary. The more the wear, the more hte cylinders gonna need to be machined out anyway, so dont worry about damaging the walls too much.

To catch the piston, I always thread in two head bolts part way on either side of the bore in question and put a rubber band across them. Catches them nicely.

 

Now thats using the ol noodle...

 

Where would us men be without the discovery of rubber?

 

If there's too much of a carbon ridge at the top of the cylinder for the rings to go past, a flapper wheel on a die grind or drill can easily remove the ridge.

As mentioned above, the pistons can't come out the bottom. They'll hit the main bearing webbing.

 

Mine came out very easy when I just recently tore my 350 down. The upper part of a jack stand worked good for me. Just set it on top of where the rod bolt comes through on the rod, couple taps with my hand and the pistons and rods fell out. There were just a few broken rings in my driveway.

I imagine even if it had a ridge to it, it'd still be relatively easy to knock out. If not, gently using some sand paper could probably wear the ridge down enough to get it out, without being as harsh as a reamer.

 

Most autoparts stores have ridge reamers they loan out.

 

yeah, i know i can rent a reamer, my point is that they pretty much destroy the cylinder walls, or at least in my experiences they have.... (whats your opinions on them)

again, this is a 305 block were talking about, so i dont really care... especially about the pistons and rings. my plan is to keep the crank block and rods for remachining one day if i want them for a project.

im interested to see what the bearings look like, thats the main reason for this tear down. before i yanked this motor, i was losing coolent (antifreeze,water, whatever you want to call it) inside the engine. for a good 4-6 months, i was adding a gallon of 50/50 and a quart of oil (rear main leaked too) to this motor every-other week.

ill post pics if i find anything interesting (like if the bearings look fine)

 

Use the rubber end of a soft hammer @ the back of the pistons( wedged between the piston and rod small end. Don't worry about damaging the cylinder walls, the only thing that might get damaged would be the rings, which you should be replacing anyways. Ive done 4 motors this way, trust me.

By the way, ridge reimer(mispelled?) tool ( or carefully done with carbite bit) is better suited to add a chamfer at the top of the cylinder to aid in installation, so the rings do not catch when the go in. Before honing of course...

Ohh, and wrap a shop towel around the rod big end to prevent unecessary damage to the cylinder...