I've got my motor down to the block, and boy is this thing nasty!
Do you guys have any reccomendations as to what kind of products or techniques I could use to clean all the gunk, gaskets, oil, etc off of this sucka?

Thanks!

 

Are you planning to have it rebuild or ? If so, I'd just let them clean it up, otherwise you'll remove all the oil that is preventing it from rusting.

 

I'm just doing a heads cam swap and wanted to clean her up before I put it back together.

 

engine bright but use masking tape on area's you dont want water and spray after with wd-40 on all bare metal

 

Oven cleaner, and then finish with warm soapy water, dry with air (turn over on stand several times to get all the water out). Now oil the inside and cylinders and tape and paint the outside.

 

For general degreasing i use pinesol Works awsome on really greased up parts.

 

Ahh, I see! I just got done tearing my motor down to the block too...a bit different definition though, my old block is sitting next to the car! For the rest of the stuff that was in the car, I bought some engine degreaser at the local parts store that was citrus based...worked great.

 

So just spray everything down and hose it off?
Water shouldn't hurt anything in there, right? As long as I plug the holes in the lifter valley and sop up the water out of the cylinders?

Should I use the same products to clean up the heads?

 

Ahh , I misunderstood you,I thopught the engine was out of the car. Don't use the oven cleaner if it is in the car, it eats rubber and other plastics.

 

Uhh...NO! I sprayed it on a rag and wiped...used lots of rags, but it goes pretty quick. I wouldn't just hose off an open motor, no matter how good you think you've got it sealed up.

 

I'm worried about products dripping into the oil pan... Should I be?

 

Yeah...you don't want ANY foreign matter inside motor. If it were mine I'd either be real careful and apply a cleaner to a rag and just spot clean, or wait until it's buttoned back up.

 

Fuggit, my friend tore the oil pan gasket when he pulled off the timing cover, I'll just pull the oil pan out, replace the gasket, the oil pump, everything. Git er done right.

What's the best way to clean off the pistons? They look like fricken chimneys, they're so gunked up.

 

dont worry about the piston tops they wont hurt anything. but that tells me you need head work if its caked on there

 

I think I'll just dab a rag in seafoam and scrub everything down... does that sound like a good idea?

Why do I need head work?