cyl. head cleaning

[carrerarsr65]

can i bead blast the c.c. of the head to clean off the build up,or should i wire wheel em?

[cgarr]

bead blast, wire wheel will mess up the alum

[Jcslocum]

We just cleaned up some heads that looked like a BBQ grill that hadn't been cleaned in 50 years. We soaked them with simple green and the scraped, scrubbed and picked that carbon off. Took 2 overnight soaking to get the 100 % cleaned. A trade show give away ruler that had a rounded end was the best tool. No gouging. Look for my recent thread on excessive carbon.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/index2.html

You can see a pic of a nearly cleaned head in one of the last pics.

[timmy2]

Industrial gasket remover that is safe on aluminum took almost all of mine off very well in one application. Had a little scraping to do as well for the really stubborn stuff.

[PrimeMvr]

I've used soda blast media on two engines and it is very gentle, washes right off with water and it cuts right through heavy carbon. It would have that cleaned up in a minute or two.

The only downside IMHO is it sticks to surrounding oil/grime and appears to be clean aluminum, so you want to pay attention to what you've gone over and what you haven't or you end up redoing some areas after it washes off revealing the grime still underneath. As long as you make sure to hit every surface the first time it's not an issue.

Bead blasting does give a really nice appearance to the aluminum. Soda just cleans it.

[tom1394racing]

Glass bead and ultrasonic are the best methods

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Jcslocum

... Look for my recent thread on excessive carbon.


911 Engine Rebuilding Forum - Page 2 - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

You can see a pic of a nearly cleaned head in one of the last pics.

As in this one, I think.

Excess Carbon Buildup