Is this the proper amount of dirt for a rebuild?
 

This is what I saw when I lifted the fan shroud on my engine.
The stud count for the exhaust header on one side was 1 normal nut removal, 2 studs unscrewed from head, 2 studs broken at the top of the header flange, and one barrel nut mangled but finally removed using PB Blaster, heat, and the chisel application approach.

Thanks,
Mark
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1220364052.jpg

It looks cleaner than many I have seen.

Nah... you need some more... looks clean to me :)

-michael

All that blackness is now staining my cuticles, knuckles, and calouses. Nitrile gloves are your friend.
Your intake stacks weren't leaking very bad, my head fins were packed solid with gas crud. Other than that it looks the same as mine.
I can't believe how much time I've sunk into cleaning. Some people have had good experience with hot-tanking, but I have not. I have spent many hours with a toothbrush and carb cleaner getting my parts respectably clean. I still have sand coming out of my hair from blasting my tins. But the more I clean and detail the engine parts, the more I'm compelled to roll the chassis out to the driveway and clean the swingarms, halfshafts, shocks... when do I stop?!?!?

The big question is have you figured out the proper technique to put it back after you rebuild it? ;)

"put it back" as in, put back the grime? It's gonna be hell getting it out of my fingernails first! And the black, sludgy rags, drain pans full of roofing tar, ... hell, I didn't know I was sposta save it all!!!

:D

AFM,
You and I are in the same little corner of h*ll. I have the trans clean. I have the bottom of the engine clean. I have the removed parts mostly clean...

I need to spray paint some of the engine tin, what is a good color match for the satin black? I found the single plate behind the turbo scavenge pump is aluminum and the paint looked almost brownish-black. Since most of the paint was flaked off, I might leave it bare aluminum.

How did you clean the upper part of your engine? My wife suggested a vacuum followed by spray and brush onto a rolled-up towel. I don't want to move the dirt around and down to the bottom of the engine only to disappear into crevices that I cannot see or reach into.

I have a pile of greasy, smelly rags alternating with layers of nitril gloves, too.

Does it ever end? Every time I clean one area, I see another bit of caked-on grime or a spot of that butterscotch colored wax preservative.

Thanks,
Mark

Buy a steel drum and fill it with Berryman's; let the case soak in it for a week. It will be totally clean, with no work and you might qualify for Superfund status afterward.

If I believed with certainty that would work I'd've done it. But the "butterscotch" Mark refers to is some seriously stubborn stuff. Yesterday I spent a very OCD-indulgent several hours with a jeweler's screwdriver carefully picking away at the last remnants of this crap on my case halves. With it loostened up I will hit the cases with the power washer one more time. There, I admitted it. I've used my power washer on my cases, tranny, cam towers. I even blasted out the oil tubes. Of course I then follow with 125psi air and WD40. What's left behind is blessedly dry and devoid of skanky oily rag residue and does not collect dust like surfaces that were. My crank and cams went directly from the cases to Ceran Wrap (oil and all). Cylinders got wiped down, then sprayed with motorcycle chain lube (dries waxy).
Mark, I didn't bother to try to match the tin black. I'm repainting it all so I just used the engine black I had. I also gave my intercooler a light dusting to help conceal those ugly chips. I also sanded down and sprayed my fan with a nice silver and will hit the chain boxes and rocker covers. I polished the fan strap, and every single nut, bolt, stud or other metal part has been past my bench grinder brass wire wheel.
I'm not going to chrome anything or powdercoat my fan and covers neon red like some folk, I just want to be able to pop the lid and have the cleanliness evident.

AFM,
Thanks for the idea about dusting the intercooler with black spray paint. I have some chips in my IC fins, too. I put some of the aluminum engine parts in the dishwasher. That worked pretty well, but I had to run an empty cycle afterwards...

I never thought I would finish getting the black "greasecake" off of all the 6mm bolts that hold the engine tin together. I used a wire wheel just like you did. I know I'll never get them all back where they belong (some are short, some are cadmium-plated, some have seperate washers, etc). I think my chain boxes are in pretty good shape but my hard oil lines and the steel waste gate piping is pretty rough. I might have to sand and paint them silver, the plating is gone.

I did find some surprises. There was a loose dowel pin floating around in the engine mount below the crankshaft pulley. I also found a washer of unknown origin under the engine shroud. And, interestingly enough, a round gasket was laying in the bottom of the distributor under the centrifugal advance weight assembly.

I should have my cam tools by next week and then I will be able to get the number 4, 5, and 6 heads off. I hope they are in decent shape. We might be re-assembling at about the same time. Maybe we can put our heads together (get it?). I mean we could collaborate on the cam timing.

I talked to ARP Fasteners today and asked them why they don't have any 8 x 1.25mm lock nuts in their proprietary "Stainless 300" metal that is heat and corrosion resistant. They are working up an estimate for a custom production run. Do you want me to add some in for you? I figure 12 for the exhaust flange studs and 12 for the exhaust pipe bolts. Round it up to 25 per engine, maybe I'll order 100; that could handle 4 engine rebuilds. The Porsche nuts are $5.25 each, they said it might be less expensive if I can order enough of them.

Thanks,
Mark

Has anyone considered renting a steam cleaner?

Dishwasher works too but only if the wife is out of the house.

I would like to hear if steam cleaner works cleaning up the inside/outside of the case. We have a commercial place near here.. Seems like a quick solution if you take one half of the case there on the engine stand.

Are you guys crazy or only kidding about using the dishwasher? Used motor oil contains crazy carcinogens, you contaminate the dishwasher with that crap and I would NEVER let anyone eat off off anything washed in it. Highly not recommended.

Have ARP make the custom nuts 12mm across the flats for an easier fit on the heat exchangers.

So'z that mean I'm not sposta eat my burrito with my greasy hands then? My digestive tract has adapted and become dependent on a daily intake of synthetic lubricants since my highschool days working in bicycle shops!!! Sudden sessation could be catastrophic to my gastrointestinal equilibrium!!!