Block and head cleaning?

[Richard150MPH]

Now that the EPA has forced the machine shops to abandon what really worked how are we to clean our blocks and heads for rebuilding?
I do not have access to an oven or hot tank.
Could build a hot tank but no one will sell me the chemicals.
Wondering if my reverse electrolysis tank would be effective?
But really no way to get an anode inside the water or oil passages.

 

[Derek69SS]

Local machine-shop does shot blasting. They come out looking brand new, and it is pretty cheap to have done.

 

[BillyGman]

Local machine-shop does shot blasting. They come out looking brand new, and it is pretty cheap to have done.

Wouldn't that have potential for a percentage of the shot being hung up inside the oil passages of an engine block? I'm no expert in this, but it just sounds to me like that practice would be asking for trouble

 

[Richard150MPH]

Looks like I will be doing a combination of elbow grease and soda blasting, with some gasoline as solvent.
Not ideal but all that is now available in my area without waiting several months.

 

[BillyGman]

Looks like I will be doing a combination of elbow grease and soda blasting, with some gasoline as solvent.
Not ideal but all that is now available in my area without waiting several months.

Instead of gasoline, you might want to consider using mineral spirits instead. It's often used for cleaning tools and internal transmission parts. It's flammable, but my guess is that it's fumes/vapors don't have as much potential to ignite as gasoline fumes do. Just some food for thought. The down side is that it costs more than gasoline. But probably a whole lot safer to use inside a garage.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klean-S...d-Paint-Stain-and-Varnish-GKSP94006/100147127

 

[Richard150MPH]

I've tried mineral spirits.
Disappointed in the very slow effectiveness.
Gas is almost instant in comparison.
I do not smoke and modern gas is all what we used to call "White Gas" with no lead.
I looked at building a hot tank, but the cost of chemicals is VERY high.

 

[Nashville Cat]

It's still plenty warm outside to use a water hose with nozzle and brushes.
If the block has gunk buildup, I would scrape away most of it and then use brake cleaner and a soft wire brush.
Soap and water will do it once you get the oil and grease down to a thin layer.

 

[Shovelrick]

Pressure washer and rifle cleaning brushes? Maybe try using the brushes on a drill

 

[Nashville Cat]

Pressure washer and rifle cleaning brushes? Maybe try using the brushes on a drill

On a BBC there's about 9 pipe plugs you have to remove.
On a Lotus ??? No idea

 

[Richard150MPH]

Current block clean is MG Midget.
There will be others.

 

[SSuperDave]

My go to for cleaning and degreasing anything is MEK, methyl ethyl ketone. I've always believed that if a cleaner doesn't have a skull and crossbones on it, that it ain't no good. Use nitrile gloves, it'll dissolve latex ones.

 

[Shovelrick]

My go to for cleaning and degreasing anything is MEK, methyl ethyl ketone. I've always believed that if a cleaner doesn't have a skull and crossbones on it, that it ain't no good. Use nitrile gloves, it'll dissolve latex ones.

Can you still buy MEK? My 1st wife worked at Florida Plating for a few yrs and that was in large tanks there, EPA shut the place down around 85?

 

[77cruiser]

Local machine-shop does shot blasting. They come out looking brand new, and it is pretty cheap to have done.

Several years ago Wolfie showed some pics of a crusty old block that he'd done with what he called shake & bake. Came out looking like new but of course it has to have a total machine job done.

 

[SSuperDave]

A real hardware store will have MEK, it ain't cheap, but in day and age, there are no substitutes.