The first step in removing the motor is to remove everything attached to the motor – top, sides, bottom, front, and back. It took me close to two months to get all of this done – there are a lot of things attached to the motor, and surprisingly little room to work.
Some of the parts coming off and out were easy, and some fought me all the way. Since the exhaust was welded, the plan was to unbolt it from the exhaust manifolds and leave it in place. Of course, it didn’t work out that way.
The exhaust manifold bolts were inaccessible and rusted; I managed to get one off, round one off, and give up on the other two before too much blood was shed. The exhaust was so close to the drive shaft that I couldn’t get to the center carrier bearing. I ended up having to cut the exhaust to take it out. In five pieces. For each side… For such a huge car, there is no space to work in surprising places.
I had decided to pull the motor and transmission out as a unit. In retrospect this was a wise decision – there is so little clearance between the transmission and the transmission hump that it would have been impossible to get to all of the engine/transmission bolts.
I had to remove the radiator support to open up enough room for this. This proved to be another project – Chrysler used many bolts and some “creative” attachments for this. But, the support finally gave up and came out.
After all the prep work getting ready, actually pulling the motor was anticlimactic. I called a friend over to help. We chained the engine to the hoist, jacked slowly and moved things carefully, and the engine and transmission just slid out! This job went so smoothly I just kept looking for the disaster that had to be lurking. Nope, no problems.
Split the engine and transmission, remove the rest of the accessories from the engine, and start the expensive part.
Based on recommendations from people in the Chrysler 300 club, I took the transmission to Don Verity in Rhode Island. When I talked to Don he was very familiar with the pushbutton transmissions and with Imperials. Even better, when I pulled up to his shop there were three 1950s and 1960s Imperials parked outside, including his daily driver.
Don went through the transmission for a reasonable price. He reported that someone had been inside the transmission before, but they didn’t quite know how these old Torqueflites worked. The transmission was still in great shape, but needed the rebuild and a few missing and mis-matched parts replaced.
Don talked me out of replacing the torque convertor – he felt that these never go bad, and replacing them was unnecessary. Finally, a place to save money!
The engine went out to Custom Automotive Machine (Camco) in East Weymouth, MA. I have a friend who has a business restoring old Studebakers. He said that whenever he needs engine work he just sends it to Camco – he has had over a hundred engines done over the last 20 years with great results.
I had called Camco last year to discuss this project with them. They were familiar with the Chrysler 413, including knowing what parts were hard to get. They said that the knocking I was hearing sounded like a spun rod bearing, so don’t drive the car – the crank for a 413 is impossible to find, so if the crank is damaged the engine is probably a complete loss.
As it turned out, the knocking noise wasn’t a rod bearing – it was a broken piston! They found pieces of the piston skirt in the oil pan. They also found broken piston rings in two pistons. I have no idea how the engine managed to survive this without being destroyed.
They also found three cracks in the block. Fortunately not in structural areas, and they have a place that can repair cracks like this as good as new. Oh well, its only money…
So, the engine is now .030 over, new pistons and rings, bearings and seals, cam and lifters, and a head job with hardened valve seats
So I now have a completely rebuilt engine, beautifully painted in the factory turquoise color, sitting on a stand waiting to go back into the car. And several months of work ahead getting the engine bay ready to receive this work of art.
Next: Front End Deep Freeze