Removing a piston from a McCormick Deering

[redneck51031]

I have a McCormick Deering M 1 1/2 that is stuck. I am tying to restore it and what is the best way to get the piston out with spending as little money as possible. It has been sitting in oil like power steering fluid, diesel fuel, brake fluid, and motor oil for 6 years and it will not move. I broke the center of the piston trying to move it with what I had to work with.

[6hpMarty]

Try finding a pulley, or a block of wood or somthing that will fit down into the cyl. and on top of the piston, and start hammering. The piston is already broke so harm there. I found soaking a piston that is stuck is a waiste of time. Marty

[oldenginejim]

With this engine, I would remove the cylinder sleeve with the piston in it. Put it in a press and press it out. If you have some room between the top of the piston and the top of the sleeve, meaning your piston is down in the cylinder a ways, put the sleeve on a solid block in the press. Once you have enough pressure to move the piston just the slightest bit, it should come out fairly easy! You can get a new O-ring for the sleeve from Hit N Miss Enterprises. This is just my opinion. IHC M's had the luxery of removable sleeves which makes cleaning and removing stuck pistons much easier........

[Jordan]

3 words

Gibbs penetrating oil

It should have that piston out in no time.

Jordan

[Rudy]

I have had the best luck removing pistons by pounding them out.First i clean the bore on top of the piston and underneath usually by sandblasting. You have too remove the ridge of rust between the piston and cylinder.next i have used heavy wall well pipe which is slightly smaller then the bore,and pound on the pipe with a 20 pound hammer. this method has never failed me. I have broken too many cast pieces by using a press.it puts pressure on the part till the weakest part breaks. if you pound it out it's the initial shock that loosenes the piston. once it starts too move then i use lubrication.the only problem of removing the sleeve and piston assembly on an M is that if the con. rod bolts are not lined up with the hand hole you are pretty much out of luck.

[John Hammink]

Originally Posted by Jordan

3 words

Gibbs penetrating oil

It should have that piston out in no time.

Jordan

C'on Jordan, that would be a WONDER!

[BDMelon]

john i use a mixture of gibbs & pb blaster, now this real works fast, have had piston struck & pins frozen this cobo (gets her done!

[tractorzippo]

Why does everyone want to pound and hammer on things?
I have had very good luck by throwing together an adapter that screws in the spark plug hole with a grease fitting and pump the cyl. full of grease,a good grease gun will produce 2500 lbs. of hyd. pessure and something has to give!
Makes a mess to clean up but the force will also force your penetrating oil ( I use brake fluid) down thru the rust and to the rings. GOOD LUCK

[Phillip Hutchinson]

G'DAY ALL
you ask "why do people have to pound and bash things" well in my experience
it works. I have used this method with great success,I stand the engine on end if possible,fill up the cylinder with diesel,i find that diesel gets in the best.
Then get a piece of Red gum firewood (an ozzie hardwood) that fits neat in the bore and it needs to be NEAT and square on the end so as it spreads the load over the top of the piston,now get a 10 pound hammer(i know it sounds a bit excessive) but you don't wind up from your ankles,just give it a bump,the weight of the hammer gives the piston a heavy shock load which in all my attempts has been successful with no damage.Once the piston has moved down the bore clean the area above and try to get it out through the top.of course we have cleaned the bore before starting.The last engine i did using this method was a 5 HP hornsby which had a 6" bore?
Happy removing Regards Phillip

[sparkplug54]

Does the diesel splash in your face when you hammer? lol Dan S

[Phillip Hutchinson]

Now now Dan,that would be the reply i would expect from our friend MR MELON

[Mtype]

All i do is remove the head and sandblast the bore realy well then fill the bore with kerosene and light it after it has burnt out i fill it up again and burn it. the heat helps the kero get down around the piston then i just press it. It has worked every time for me even on my Fielding & platt which was half buried. Cam

[Kevin Marshall]

Try heating around the cylinder while trying to keep the piston cool. This usually breaks the toughest rust quite easy. then alternate the hammer blows from top to bottom of piston, in both directions. (providing both ends of cylinder are accessible). Work the piston up & down using plenty of your favorite penetrant, just be careful with the torch & flammable fluids.

[Joe Morris]

Redneck,Keep in mind that the 1.5 M engines used two different bore sizes. Not sure of the year, so when youi look for a new piston be sure you look for the right bore size piston I hope this will help a little. Joe Morris, Good luck in a good hobby.

[David L. Showerman]

Joe, How about using "electrolisis"? Check the archives for details. Dave in Holt.

[Joe Morris]

Redneck, I may be bady mistaken but I seem to remember that the piston on an M engine won't come out through the hole in the rear of the block. So if you drive down on it away from the head end and it goes out the rear of the cylinder you have got a problem. You would have to dismantle the engine and take it out through the governor side. And in this case the grease under pressure won't work due to the hole already broke out of the top of the piston. and I can tell you from experience that pulling a sleeve out or putting it back can be a real hassel Good luck, Joe Morris