Hi, im putting a new block in my car and im wondering while its sitting in my garage, what can I do to clean/prepare it. I was thinking of cleaning and painting it hi-temp black. Any pointers on that? Also is there anything I can do to clean the pistons short of just spraying out the cylinders with an air hose? Also, If I DO paint the block, what should I be sure NOT to get paint on and what CAN I get paint on. Thanks. Remember I don't want to disassemble the engine much. Any tips are great.

 

carb/brake cleaner will rip through grime. get a toothbrush to get stuff off as far as cleaning off the pistons i would keep crap out of there cause if you arent rebuilding it then i dont think its a good idea to get abrasive material in the cylinders walls without rehoning it, so it might be a good idea to keep the pistons all at tdc just to insure nothing falls on top of the pistons and starts scratching your cylinder walls. as far as painting i have no clue about that but i think someone posted about that a few weeks ago search for it and maybe it will pop up. good luck

 

about painting a block make sure you get as much of the grease/oil of the surface of block. second dont get paint on the headgasket surface because it could cause the gasket to not seal properly. Do you want to clean just the tops of the pistons or all of it?

 

I figured any cleaning is better than none, IF its not hurting anything. How do I get ALL the cylinders to TDC at the same time?

 

pressure washer, simple green, small wire bristle brushes, rags, tooth brushes, more rags, simple green, more rags.

then, rinse rinse rinse, skuff w/ sandpaper/brillo/scotch brite, then prime then spray.

 

you can't get all the pistons to top dead center at the same time because the pistons are conected to a rod and the rod is conected to a crankshaft. the only way to have all pistons on top dead center is to diconect they from the crankshaft.

 

When I cleaned the tops of my pistons I used a shop vac to suck up everything so all the crap wouldnt get in the cylinder walls. Just kept the vacuum hose next to the wire brush when scrapin off all the carbon on the piston heads. Worked great for me.

Just my 2 cents.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by superbeastcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can't get all the pistons to top dead center at the same time because the pistons are conected to a rod and the rod is conected to a crankshaft. the only way to have all pistons on top dead center is to diconect they from the crankshaft. </TD></TR></TABLE>
thats what I thought.....thats why I asked

what cant I get water on when I wash it and what cant I get paint on when I paint it?

 

is your oilpan on the block? if it is then your in good shape but dont let water into the oil drain wholes( the holes in the top of the block that allow oil to move back into the block from the head). Dont get paint on the top of the block where the head bolts to the block. if you dont have an oilfilter on dont get paint on the surface that the filter's seal sits. If your oilpan is on than dont worry about this but dont get paint on the oil pan gasket area either.

 

I would not paint the block black..makes it harder to tell if something is leaking..

 

I think even if teh block is black I shoudl be able to tell. A non leaking engine should be dry if it starts getting wet somewhere ill wash and watch it Thanks for all the tips guys, keep em comin if u want

 

lather ,rinse , repeat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Outsane &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would not paint the block black..makes it harder to tell if something is leaking..</TD></TR></TABLE>