I was wondering how do yall clean off pistons after carbon build-up?

I just got in some PR3 pistons and soaking it in some parts cleaner chemical; wiping off after a rinse. I was just wondering cause there was quite a bit and wanted to know if using a wire brush would damage it...

Also, would it be hard to put these pistons on LS rods?

I got a Helms and got a little confused... I'm doing an LS/V and wanted to see if you can put the pistons on the rods at home. According to Helms, you got to have a hydraulic press to press in the wrist pins... is that so?

 

Most machine shops will bead blast pistons to clean them or even vat them. When you do that, however (Bead blast), be very careful about blasting the lands.

Once upon a time, I was working on a Dodge 360CI engine. I wanted to clean the pistons up before reassembly, so I went to town, bead blasting them. They looked GREAT when I was finished. I washed them down with solvent to get all the micro fine material out of them and began installation of the rings.

for some odd reason, none of the rings (New or old) would fit in the lands any longer! Why? I was over zealous with my blasting and literally mushroomed the lands! You couldnt see it with your eye, but you could sure feel it when trying to install the compression rings! So i ended up filing all the lands to make the rings fit.

it finally worked, but had i known about the problem i was causing when I was blasting, I would have saved myself a great deal of time.

Solvents are the best way to clean pistons out of the shop. However, if you are going to have the pistons pressed on to new rods, you might as well pay the machine shop to do the cleanup for you. The wrist pins have to be pressed on, and unless you have experience with this, i recommend you having a professional machinist do the work. You really don't want one of those puppies coming lose at 7000 RPM! LOL

 

they have to be pressed on, just take it to a machine shop and have them install it for u. try brake cleaner or carb cleaner to take the carbon off

 

I also like to use B-12 Chem tool and a wire brush. I buy the little bucket you can get at Autozone for 15 bucks, that way you can reuse it. The problem with sprays is that they are so messy and a can never seems to last as long as you need it to.. hehe Soak the piston in the solvent for a couple of hours and scrub away. That works well!

 

What worries me is using a wire brush. I don't want to scar up the piston just because of carbon. They look alright now and ready to go in, but had to soak them for a few hours... and I'll get a machine shop to press in the pistons.

 

dichlourmetane, or old school carb dip

STINKS, soaks into your skin, but the best carb cleaner for 40-50 years

Brass wire brush not gonna hurt them......

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheLastSpartan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What worries me is using a wire brush. I don't want to scar up the piston just because of carbon. They look alright now and ready to go in, but had to soak them for a few hours... and I'll get a machine shop to press in the pistons.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You do know that the piston doesn't actually touch anything, right? The minute amount of scarring from a wire brush will have no effect.

 

lol come one guys, your telling me no one doesnt the propane torch trick? XD

freeze the wrist pins until they are cool, thne heat the piston pin hole on the rod slightly, and then slide the wrist pin in, your done!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowcivic2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lol come one guys, your telling me no one doesnt the propane torch trick? XD

freeze the wrist pins until they are cool, thne heat the piston pin hole on the rod slightly, and then slide the wrist pin in, your done!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Err... never heard of that. BUT got them pressed for $30 so it's cool. I'll post pics of the build when I'm finished

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowcivic2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lol come one guys, your telling me no one doesnt the propane torch trick? XD

freeze the wrist pins until they are cool, thne heat the piston pin hole on the rod slightly, and then slide the wrist pin in, your done!</TD></TR></TABLE> ...thats what they do at the machine shop. But they have a double torch setup.

 

a piece of scotch brite will clean the pistons and wont leave any damage