Gunner Asch wrote:
Grant Erwin wrote:
Gunner Asch wrote:

Indeed. If It were off the bottom even a little bit, Id do as Tom
Gardner suggested, bolt on a plate with a grease zerk in it, and pump
it up until something came un****ed.

So why not pick a piston that's not at BDC and pump that one up? Or
pump up 3 or 4 other ones, to equalize the torque on the crankshaft?

Because Im afraid it would snap the crank

And if not a snapped crankshaft, most certainly a bent one. You're
dealing with some pretty large forces cranks were never designed for.

Captain Obvious here. It just hit me. (OUCH!) Lightbulb time!

Instead of pushing down (that can't work because you are fresh out
of 'down' at the moment), why not try pulling UP? ;-)

"If you can't raise the drawbridge, lower the river."

The same blank-off plate and a nice diffusion vacuum pump? But you
might want a reinforcing rib or two across the back, or you'll bend
that blank-off plate into a new Pop-Art pretzel bowl.

Or some low pressure saturated steam to purge all the air from the
cylinder and a ball valve to stop the flow - When the steam condenses
that creates one hell of a vacuum, too.

But I would get in there and hone the upper cylinder walls and ream
the ridge off first, so you don't cause more damage after it gets
moving - might even be able to reuse the piston with fresh rings if
the beating on it hasn't hurt it.

And unbolt the cap of the con rod and rig something holding it
straight, so the big end doesn't hang up on the edge of the cylinder
wall skirt when it starts moving.

And you might seal up something in there for an end-of-travel
bumper, like a golf ball or a few wine corks, so the piston crown
doesn't meet the block-off plate with any velocity. Would be really
hard on the head bolt threads, unless you put some valve springs as a
buffer between the bolts and the plate.

-- Bruce --