Please see the attached pictures, I am trying to find the best way (at home) to clean my engine block and heads. I have a tote that I am planning on using liquid degreaser mixed with water and have the heads sit in the mixture for a day or so....

Is there anything I am missing here? Thanks for the help.

 

That and maybe a steam clean.

 

Orange Citric powder available at some grocery stores or those small expensive gourmet shops. Mix up a big drum for the block or your tote for the heads and let them sit for a week or so. I've never done it myself but a few friends have and it worked great for them. The Citric acid will clean and remove the deposits down in the passageways.

Use a HOT water pressure washer with a soap or degreaser attachment. This I've seen done and works great as well. Cold water will not work!

Set it on an engine stand and go at it with rags, brushes, degreaser, etc. Works but will take awhile and its not cleaning down in the passage ways.

Letting it sit in degreaser works but again its not going to get down in those passage ways.

All that said.. Take them to a machine shop! Had my 351w block professionally hot tanked at a shop near us and it only cost 80.00. They quoted me 25.00 per head though I passed on sine I'm looking at aftermarket heads. Also to have the block magnafluxed for flaws was 75.00 which IMO was worth it since I had no idea if its history. Its pretty damn cheap in the whole scheme of things and knowing that it really IS clean should be worth it.

 

if you do it at home be absolutley sure to buy an oil galley brush, take out the plugs and go at it, i have heard 100 horror stories where someone failed to do that, and the motor was back to where it was before it was rebuilt.

 

More Questions!
When soaking the block and the heads in a tote or something, Do you recommend using gasoline? or just a simple degreaser with water?

I am having a hard time finding the citric powder, is there an alternative?

Thanks again

 

Use Simple Green to soak it in. Hot water and high pressure wiil be the best. Check the local rent-all yards and see if you can get a steam cleaner for a few hours. If not, take it over to a self serve car wash and use their high pressure sprayer.

Like Joe said, remove galley plugs, water jacket plugs, and cam bearings. Run a brush through all the holes and make sure it's really clean. a 16-20g shotgun brush usually works pretty good. If you don't have that, buy a set of galley brushes from Summit.

Do a final cleaning with Dawn dishwashing detergent. One of the best degreasers around, easy on the skin and environment. Tide works pretty good, too. Both are very low residue.

When it's clean, spray some WD-40 on a lint free paper shop towel (the blue ones), and wipe all the machined surfaces. No need to wait for it to dry; "WD" stands for Water Dry.

 

Thanks again! That makes alot of sense... I hopefully, will be starting that this week.

 

i too will be started this week
ill let you know how it goes
i plan on putting in a galvanized wash tub with simple green solution and going at it with scrub brushes, and rags etc for a rough cleaning, then go to dish detergent and/or tide with tooth brushes, then gunk/carb cleaner with a galley brush for all the passages

ill psot before and after pics for everyone's reference

 

Water Dispersant, 40th formula, but anyway . . .

 

ok... So this is where i am at... This is the color of what my block looks like.

(1) So after we soak it for a few days in tube full of liquid degreaser, what color should it look like?

(2) Then I soak it a few days with Dawn Soap. (hose it off with water)

(3) Dry it off with a air and towels.

(4) Finally, spray it all with WD40 and be ready!

Note, During this process I will use a brush to clean the pores, etc.


Also, what is the best way to take out the cam bearings (without hurting them)?
Does it hurt anything if I add the rods and pistons and rocker arms etc. into one tote or should I do this all by each type?

Thanks again!