Having Trouble Turning The Crank

[lgonzo]

Well i bought a 74 fiat 124 Spider 1800 and the motor was in pieces, i asked him if the crank still turned he said yeah, got home and tried to turn it but it doesn't want to, is it seized or is some preventing it from turning, it seems that the clutch pedal is disconnected but it still shifts to neutral so i don't know what the problem is

[azruss]

make sure the car is in neutral. pull the plugs. may want to spray a light weight oil or WD40 in the plug holes and try to get some lube down on the rings.

[maytag]

doesn't turn either direction? I assuem you;ve got a socket on the front of the crank, and are using that to try to turn it?

[lgonzo]

The engine right now is in pieces the only thing in the engine bay is the block itself the head and the cams are off and it has been setting like that since 2005, I haven't tried with a socket yet its kind of hard to find one in my area we have been trying to do it with some pliers and pipe wrentches

[BEEK]

with the head off you should be able to turn the bottom end by hand no problem. are the cylinders rusty?

[So Cal Mark]

7 yrs of sitting with the block exposed? If it isn't rusted in place the aux shaft may be wedged against the crank or it may have a spun bearing. You will quickly ruin the snout of the crank using pliers and pipe wrenches on it

[lgonzo]

i found the nut and was able to turn the crank thanks for your help

[lgonzo]

when i was turning the crank the 4th cylinder has a crack on the top of it, do i need to replace it

[So Cal Mark]

you didn't mention the pistons were still in the block. Soak each cylinder with auto trans fluid for a day or two to help unstick the rings. It sure looks like you'll need a set of pistons and a bore job

[lgonzo]

i can move the pistons now, and the rings on the pistons seem to be fine on it the pistons dont move from side to side, and when i turn it i dont hear anything wrong

[djape1977]

from, that one small pic you posted, you need a full engine rebuild.

new piston definately.

the fact that you can't move piston from side to side doesn't mean thta piston rings are ok. just means that you still have them.

[lgonzo]

does any one if someone sells a full engine rebuild kit for the 1.8 engine

[majicwrench]

Pretty good that someone can tell you need a rebuild and new pistons from that one small picture.
Would like to see a better pic of that area in question, pretty hard to see.

What are your plans?? Always fun to see these things get back on the road. Glad you got it rolling over.
Keith

[lgonzo]

the other pistons seem to be fine they just have a layer of black stuff

for now i just want to get it running again what happened before is that the head gasket broke and made a hole between the 3rd and 4th piston and i was just wondering if i could just buy a new head gasket and put it back together

[maytag]

well, you need to look closely at that nick in the #4 piston. what caused it, did it also damage the cylinder, and is the nick likely to cause further problems.

I'm with Majic: it'd be preferable to see you running around in it, rather than a lengthy rebuild.

assess your budget. there are a lot of things that you can "make do with", if the budget doesn't allow replacement. it's all about where do you draw the line on what can work if it has to, and what absolutely needs to be replaced.

let us know what you're thinking, we'll try to help how we can.