Cleaning the INSIDE of a Block

[jb-ob]

Recently we have followed the adventures of Tom Wesenberg clean the outside of his engine and Rusty 'wrndln' cleaning his engine's clogged water passages.

What about cleaning the inside, valve chamber, oil passages, and crankcase of eighty years of sludge ?

This is a very original block with it's original Ford motor green & babbit which has to be preserved, so hot tanking is out of the question. I'd like to hear your experiences, ie. oven cleaner etc.

Thanks, JB-OB

[Rex_A_Lott]

Is the head still on it? I'd try to find a way to circulate some fluid, whether it be evaporust, vinegar, caustic, etc. If you heat it, it will work faster. It would be best to be able to circulate it in both directions, the normal way and "backflush". I have also heard of using the speedometer cable in a drill to knock stuff loose, but I have never used this method, yet.Good Luck

[Special Coupe Frank]

If you want to avoid damaging the original green paint, I would suggest staying away from caustic cleaners, such as Easy-Off, Purple-Power, Super-Clean, etc. These will remove paint.

For the valve chamber, oil passages, crank-case, etc. I think scraping-out as much of the sludge as possible, then "washing" with kersosene, and a parts brush / toothbrush, and running wire-brushes through the oil passages to the mains and cam-bearings, etc.

Before starting to clean, assuming you have removed the crank ( hang vertically from flange ), you might want to wipe the babbitt surfaces dry with lacquer thinner on a rag, then apply blue painter's tape or "Frog tape" to the babbit & cap-bosses, to protect them from injury (on the mains, punch through the tape from the crank-side to clear the oil-hole ).

Sounds like slow & steady will be the watch-word.

Once you have things cleaned-down, inspect the block deck carefully for cracks between the valve-seats and cylinder bores and water jacket ports, these will become coolant leaks to the crankcase.

Also, inspect the dipper tray and oil-pump / spring VERY carefully of acid-etching... I pulled down a '29 engine that had holes etched through the troughs on #2 and # 3, and the oil-pump spring was eaten in two by crankcase acids.

Good luck !

Frank

[Rex_A_Lott]

OK, I gave a pretty good answer for a question you didnt ask, sorry.
In the areas you mentioned, they should have been all soaked in oil, there shouldnt be much cleaning except maybe some sludge. I'd buy a case of brake cleaner and some stainless steel wire toothbrushes and just have at it. Use a wire brush in a drill where you can get to it. Good Luck!

[Tom Wesenberg]

Is this to be done with the engine installed?
I would stick pipe cleaners down the 3 oil tubes to the mains, then use a brush and gas to clean the valve chamber. I also use air and a syphon gun to blow clean the chamber and bottom side of the engine. When you pull the pipe cleaners out any junk should come out with them, plus they prevent more junk from entering while cleaning.

[tbirdtbird]

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To clean a valve chamber with the motor in the car I use a vacuum pump connected to a large mason jar. The lid has two 1/4" copper tubes soldered in, one long going to almost the bottom. The pump is connected to the short tube to keep crud from entering the pump. The longer tube is connected to a hose that I use as a vacuum wand in the chamber. I use pipe cleaners in the main and cam bearing oil holes like Tom mentioned. I hold a can of brake cleaner in one hand and the vacuum wand in the other, and gently flush and suction at the same time. Kind of like dentistry. It can be tedious but with patience you will get all the crud. I use this setup since I don't think it is a good idea to be sucking solvents into a regular shop vac.

If the pan is down in all likelihood the only cleaning that needs to be done is the bottom of the pan and the dipper tray, and these can easily be cleaned with conventional methods outside in the yard.

Oven cleaner, acids, etc etc will destroy your babbitt for sure, you must use solvents, and do a test on an inconspicuous area to be sure the solvent you chose will not remove the original paint you want to preserve. I have not seen brake cleaner remove paint but test to be sure. WD40 would be an alternative to brake cleaner

[Mikeinnj]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Is this to be done with the engine installed?
I would stick pipe cleaners down the 3 oil tubes to the mains, then use a brush and gas to clean the valve chamber. I also use air and a syphon gun to blow clean the chamber and bottom side of the engine. When you pull the pipe cleaners out any junk should come out with them, plus they prevent more junk from entering while cleaning.

Kerosene is a much safer solution to use for cleaning parts.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Mikeinnj

Kerosene is a much safer solution to use for cleaning parts.

This is true and I would only use gas outside. I use kerosene or low odor thinner in my solvent tank.

I've also made a couple vacuum jars as Tbird mentioned. They work great for brake bleeding on newer cars, and also for sucking out gear oil.