Is there any harm in cleaning pistons while still in the block? (I dont want to take out the bearings) Would some carb cleaner and a wire brush work? There is quite a bit of carbon on the top of them. I just figured that while the heads were off i would clean them up.

 

You want to be careful with a wire brush or scotchbrite pad as these can shed debris that can do damage to components.

 

Well id use alot of carb cleaner and compressed arir and get the debris out. Other than that is there any other things wrong with it?

 

dont use a wire brush. any debris in the engine could be a very bad day. Also anything you are cleaning needs to be at TDC to make sure nothing is stuck to the side of the cylinder.

Personal opinion... get the car back together and run a couple bottle of fuel system cleaner.

 

I wouldn't touch it without a shop vac right there to remove any debris. Not sure I would use any solvent that could run down the cylinder walls.

 

The way I've done it many times is, take a razor blade and scrape the grunge toward the center of the piston. Then vacuum that up. After that, just take a rag, soak it with Acetone or MEK and rub the piston tops clean that way..

 

What should i use then? I need to clean them. I may have to take them out of the motor. But i dont want to do all of the work of resizing the rods and turning and polishing the crank for new bearings. im on a very tight budget. I bought this motor as a complete motor and when i got there to pick it up it was in peices. So as of now i just spent $200 for a valve job and resurface. the guy never shipped the motor so i had to go and pick it up 11 and 1/2 hours to little rock Arkansas. He wont answer my phone calls anymore and we couldnt get him to sign any papers saying he owed us parts or money because he was somewhere else and we had to leave. I just dont know what to do at this point. Im not so sure i shouldnt check the bearings anyways.

 

thats a good idea compstall. I will do that.

 

if i run across pistons that have a lot of carbon buildup when i have the heads off an engine, i clean them by bringing the piston to TDC and scraping it clean with a razor blade. vacuum the left over stuff, and then blow out the gap around the piston with an air hose

 

btw, definitly check the bearings before using that engine so you know what you have. if the bearings are worn but the crank surfaces look good and the bearings dont show any signs of a crank or rod problem, you can just put new bearings in without having to have any work done to the crank or rods. new bearings alone dont cost much at all, and are well worth it

at the very least, check the main bearings since they are the easiest, and if they all look good, chances are all the rod bearings will be fine as well

also check the crank endplay to see if the thrust surfaces on the #5 main bearing are worn too far or not

 

will do chevyguy. Thanks-Joe