tips for cleaning up block

[30csl]

Any good tips for cleaning up the block prior to head replacement?

Thanks,

Rohan

 

[sfdon]

make sure you pull the 19mm bolt on the pass. side to drain the block. Flush well to get all the crap out.

 

[30csl]

Thanks SF - my garage floor is going to be some mess after this is finished!

 

[deQuincey]

trying to help:

what do you mean by cleaning up ? i understood to clean the block but checking the first answer probably i am not right !

if you are going to do the head you will have to remove several things:

admission, carburetors,
fuel pump if mechanical
exhaust, new gaskets, and even nuts if necessary
distributor repair and clean with new repair kits,
flush the coolant, check pump, hoses,...
change oil and filter,
prepare for reassembly: clean and dry bottom of head bolts threads in the block
new chain tensioner kit, check chain for wear
renew electric cables protection, with textile tape if possible
new cables for sparks

others ?

is this what you need ? do you need details in any of these fields ?

for cleaning the block, probably gasoline and a cloth

regards

 

[30csl]

Hi deQuincey, sorry for being vague, i meant just to clean up the mating surface. I have razor blades and a holder and some fine sandpaper but just wondered about other tips. Should i be worried about the bores getting stuff in them or will this get blown out first spin of the engine?

thanks,

Rohan

 

[sfdon]

the most important thing is clean each head bolt hole or "bore"

If you don't get all the old oil out you will destroy your block before you ever start your engine.

I use wd 40 and q-tips and pre thread each bolt.

razor blades and steel wool are nice but I finish with a coarse and then a fine stone before de-greasing and the head gasket.

Have fun!

 

[deQuincey]

Hi deQuincey, sorry for being vague, i meant just to clean up the mating surface. I have razor blades and a holder and some fine sandpaper but just wondered about other tips. Should i be worried about the bores getting stuff in them or will this get blown out first spin of the engine?

thanks,

Rohan

ok, nothing to be sorry about,, it is more me and my poor english understanding ;-)

yeah the mating surface is always important,

really the first thing to do is close all the holes that can eat the dust and dirty remains that you are going to produce while cleaning that surface, in particular the threaded holes of the bolts, and the holes of the cooling compartments, the cylinders are not so critical as you can clean them afterwards, but anyway is better to close them too

first thing is to check if there are remains of the old gasket, if so the razor blades are nice, but be careful to use them in flat contact to the surface (i mean as parallel as possible), you can pretreat the remains with WD40 as sfdon proposes and when they are wet use the blades

anyway when you finish with the blades you will need to level the finish so sand paper will be great, i wont use a extra fine paper (like number 2000, that will give you "mirror" finish), but a 500 or even less to create some rugosity to let the gasket sit properly

when using sand paper, the best way is to wrap a metal rule with the sand paper or in the case of the block what is best is to use a glass (because is guaranteed to be flat) of a size that allows you to do all the width of the block in one movement (i use a glass of 300x100x6mm), then you wrap the glass with the sand paper and you do continuous longitudinal movement in the same direction (not in circles)

this will give you a superb finishing surface ready for the gasket

of course you will have to use and air compressor to blow all the remains from there, consider that the sandpaper is composed of small particles of abrasive minerals, and those particles fall out from the sand paper in the process.
said that i will never use steel wool in this process because the steel bits will be almost impossible to remove from narrow corners

then you will clean the threaded holes with gasoline using a long stick or an appropriate tool (like the ones used for cleaning guns) and again blow until they are dry

clean everything with gasoline as no grease should be present in the mating surfaces nor in the threaded holes, dont leave gasoline inside the cylinders, blow it away with air or clean it with a cloth

you can pour some drops of engine oil inside each cylinder before you close everything

i prepare all my mating surfaces that way (i.e. admission where the carbs seat, ...)

anyway check the compromise between the cleaning and the problems you may create, as you are not doing the block, you can not clean every particle you are going to create in the process, be aware of abrasive particles

wish you good luck

 

[deQuincey]

make sure you pull the 19mm bolt on the pass. side to drain the block. Flush well to get all the crap out.

very interesting advise, really good sfdon knows that probably noone has done it in the whole life of your car, a lot of dirty will come out from there,

but probably best when your head is back in its place, as you will need water circulation and you don´t want to pour water inside the cylinders,

check this post:
http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6020

 

[Honolulu]

my 2 cents

from last (2002) block I was in....

clean the water jacket surrounding the bores. Crud accumulates near the bottom of the jacket and when you remove the block drain, nothing comes out. Usually at this point you can worm a bit of coat hanger wire and clean the immediate vicinity of the block drain, but this is only a small percentage of the area which potentially collects crud. When the head is off, you have direct access to almost all the water jacket with a long screwdriver or similar pointy tool. Work around the bores well, paying particular attention to the bottom of the water jacket. When satisfied, remove the block drain plug and gently run some water in, to flush out the loosened crud through the block drain hole. "Stir" with the pointy object while you're at it.

Note about cleaning head bolt holes: it's nice to run in a tap if you have one long enough, our use a clean head bolt gently threaded in with fingers. When satisfied the threads are clean, dribble in some solvent, then shoot air to clean it out. CAUTION: "stuff" will come out at high velocity when you do this, enough to blind you or someone else leaning over the engine bay. Solution is to hold a rag around the air tube, so it (rather than your eyes) catches the blown out debris and solvent. Keeps the general neighborhood clean as well.

 

[30csl]

Well the head is finally back in its rightful place, i have only placed the bolts in the head and have yet to get the cam sporcket on but after a long time off the car it was satisfying to see it back in the engine bay!

It was hard work to lift it in with the intake on single handedly!

 

[sfdon]

Very, very nice. Make certain your oiler bar is on correctly as they are sided.

 

[30csl]

Thanks Don,

hoping it all works as it should when back together - got the sprocket on last night and refitted a few more bits. I have a 6 branch manifold to go on and i imagine like others here in the Uk there will be some clearance issues despite it being advertised to be ok.

Weather is getting milder here now so hopefully no more salt on the roads!

Regards,

Rohan

 

[deQuincey]

Thanks Don,

hoping it all works as it should when back together - got the sprocket on last night and refitted a few more bits. I have a 6 branch manifold to go on and i imagine like others here in the Uk there will be some clearance issues despite it being advertised to be ok.

Weather is getting milder here now so hopefully no more salt on the roads!

Regards,

Rohan

nice work
weather in london ! i was there last week and it was superb ! sunny intervals and 15degrees