Hello I have a 1955 Ford 272 takes a lot of effort to turn the engine , I have soaked the pistons with oil with no change . The car has been sitting for almost 30 yrs I have pulled the heads today and the cylinder bore is clean yet the engine is still tight . The car has an automatic transmission I was wondering if the torque converter or some internal transmission part could be so rusty that its making the crankshaft hard to turn. I plan to disconnect the converter from the engine to see if it makes a diffrence. I would like some Ideas Byy the was today when in removed the heads I did drop the pan and removed the bearing cap from each piston the pistons all moved freely yet the engine is still hard to turn thanks again

If the engine was assembled by someone else, all the more reason to check it. I once checked a 312 for a customer that he had bought from a respected circle track engine builder in the southeast. The builder was obviously a Cxxx guy, because the rods were installed in the Cxxx order, which made the rod bearings ride the radius on the crank. The timing chain was installed per Cxxx practice, and the cold adjustment of the valves caused the exhausts to have 1/4" clearance. The cylinder head bolts were installed in the wrong holes, so the gaskets were doomed to fail.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"