Cleaning the engine-block using...
 

Well i've been onto my 325IC -92 for att far to long time right now and as a beginner there's been many questions but it's time to wrap up everything now. Soo the engine-block! How clean is ut supposed to be before i can put on the top? Some say it should been extremely clean and even i believe that ofcourse, but right now i'm really tired after been sanding it with 600grit for hours. At the moment there's still some carbon-spots left but it's a matter a fact impossible to get rid of it. It's not that you can feel the spots but it's there anyways :(

I've been looking a lot on the pelican guides and they're truely great! But as i see it they use electric drill and some soft brush, something tells me it's the best way to get rid of carbonish stuff?

Are you asking about cleaning the pistons or the head gasket surface?

I would not use sand paper if you can avoid it. You dont want any sand in your engine.

I used a drill attached abrasive disk that was similar to ScotchBrite: Here is a link to where I mentioned it in the past.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/101-projects-discussion-forum-bmw-3-series/398629-got-head-off-need-some-help.html?highlight=piston

The product I found was at Pepboys, in the auto-paint-prep section.

Hey!

Well pretty much the big job is done for the moment so there's just some small spots left around the corners of the holes.

No it's not sand paper i've been using. I actually have no idea what the correct english word is but it is this high grit paper that look like this
http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/LargeImageViewer.aspx?Path=/Archive/images/products/S/Hi/307328000_s.jpg

It goes from like 180grit up to somewhere around 3000grit.

For now the pistons are all clean and almost got the original look =) About 85-90% of the head gasket surface are all clean right now but as i said before there's still some soot/carbon left. I really tried to get rid of it but it's so freakin hard.

Well i live in Sweden so we might not have the same products over here.

Maybe i should put up a pic and show current status. Im so eager to finish everything right now.. especially cause im a real Rookie but i've learnt alot of stuff during the process.

Looks like aluminum oxide or silicon carbide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpaper

Read my post from the thread above. Use Engine Degreaser, spray it on the area and cover with a paper towel so that the area remains wet and it can soak in and dislodge the carbon.

The block is iron, try scraping it with a flat blade. Dont gouge it.

Aha! Hope it'll solve my problem then. And yes the paper is call'd silicon carbide.

I'll be in touch. Thanks!