Chemical Cleaning & Or Grit Blasting Block

[Andy F 0]

Hi people

 

Just after peoples opinions about best thing to do with my engine when rebuilding.

 

I have just finished stripping down my engine and wanted to clean it up before painting and rebuilding. A Local place to me can chemical dip it for £40 which obviously has the advantage of cleaning all the internal passages.

 

So will i be able to paint it after chemical dipping or would it be best to grit blast the block afterwards as well.

 

Thanks for everyones help

[MerlinGTI 3]

I use autoglym engine and machine cleaner, get the oily goo off, then wire brush on a drill the outside to remove any flakey bits/corrosion etc...

 

Then get it chemical cleaned.

 

I would avoid a grit blast at all costs unless you opt for a chem chean as well afterwards. You dont want grit in your engine and that stuff gets everywhere!

[Sandy 189]

Concur with Merlin, don't let grit anywhere near the engine castings, it can be murder to eliminate.

[Cameron 16]

Chemical clean would be good, I tried to get mine done but as its Aluminium I couldn't find anywhere to do it. What's the name of the place you're taking it to? Oh, might be an idea to knock out all the core plugs too so it cleans all the crap out of the oilways.

[MerlinGTI 3]

Any engineering firm (related to car engines that is) will do it, wont matter if its ally!?!

 

I pay £5 per item to be cleaned

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

Chemical clean would be good, I tried to get mine done but as its Aluminium I couldn't find anywhere to do it. What's the name of the place you're taking it to? Oh, might be an idea to knock out all the core plugs too so it cleans all the crap out of the oilways.

 

Oil gallery plugs are threaded, the big ones either end of the main gallery are need a 12mm allen key to get them out, there is also another near the oil filter, this needs a 6mm female square.

[Andy F 0]

burton power are the place who do the chemical dip, there generally work on ford engines but since its only dipping doesnt make alot of difference, i did ask them about it being an ally engine and they said it would be fine.

 

i did have a quick scrub up with some gunk and it wasnt coming up to bad, i think ill pressure wash it first get some decent degreaser have a clean up, then take it to be dipped

 

oh once ive manage to get the liners out :lol used some old pallet wood to bash them with, wasnt quite man enough

 

thanks for everyones help

[MerlinGTI 3]

mate GUNK is just glorified WD40, its pants

 

Give that AutoGlym stuff I mentioned a go (halfrauds do it) you will be amazed how good it is. GTI6BOY from here got an erection from the results it gave*

 

*This is untrue but he did say it was really good. Its all I use for de-greasing

[Cameron 16]

Well, any engineering firm can stick it in their parts washer, but that won't get the hardcore gunk off. I meant a proper chemical dip, and there aren't many places that will do it. After speaking to a couple of them the gist was that steel and ally needed different chemicals and most places just specialise in steel.

 

I tried Jizer (mostly because of the name ) and it worked ok, still needed a lot of scrubbing. Filled the bath up with warm water and jizz and let it soak for a few hours. Used the shower head and a selection of wire brushes to get it off. Just don't tell the landlord.

[welshpug 1,623]

find a garage with a diesel steam washer

[cherry_red 0]

I used 'Gunk ULTRA' Engine Degreaser 5 litre, it wasn't very good its basically 'Muc Off' which i use when my bike gets muddy, so not really powerful enough for engine cleaning. I would use a commercial chemical cleaning dip if i was going to do it again.

[MerlinGTI 3]

I was suggesting the home method purely to get the worst off and so you could see where to attack it with a wire brush before chem dip only, not as a substitute

[HERMAN 33]

I used Traffic film remover. You can get it from your local truck parts suppliers or may be a good motor factors like gsf. It is used by valitors all the time to clean engine bays ect . It is also used by truck companys and plant hire companys to clean engines and truck chasis. You just spray it on with a trigger type sprayer leave it for 10 mins then jet wash it off even better with a propper steam cleaner. Then clean out the gallerys with a can of carb cleaner as this will shift alsorts of crap and a good blow out with a air line. If you then want to paint your block use a wire wheel in a drill then wash it down with carb cleaner or painters panel wipe before painting.

Traffic film remover is an alkaline but if you wash it of after 10mins then it wont stain the surface.

It is great to use on the under side of your car as it will remove old waxoil it is also great at removing baked on brake dust like the inside of a wheel.

JUST DONT USE IT ON POLISHED ALLOY as it will furr up.

Neil

[johny105_y2k 1]

i'm currently in the process of doing this myself .

I've cleaned the block with just carplan gunk with a stiff brush then over again with a wire wheel in the drill. i'm sure there are better products but its cleaned my block up no problem.

allthough i think the main ingredient is ELBOW GREASE .

 

i usually use * i think its autoglym chassis wash.* for anything like this its the dogs. when steam cleaning the underside of the busses @ work.

 

johny

[Andy F 0]

well bought some offensive engine cleaner from machine mart, has worked allot better, used the drill to so looks pretty good now, just want to give it a final pressure wash, then ill take it to be dipped, they did say they would rod out th galleries at the same time. So hopefully this will do the job.

 

They did say before assembly i would be best cleaning the internal area's with liquid parafin to take off the final residue

 

anyone got any ideas where to get it from??? not a sort of b&q thing???

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

Brake cleaner is just as good for final cleaning, get it from any car spares shop.

[Grez28 0]

First post

I get this stuff from work ..goes by the name of loctite cleaner and its awsome for removing grease and ground in muck.

Its allso exellent for removing paint:( ..so be careful

Graham.

[Gibbo GTI 0]

Am I the only one who thinks that £40 for a chemical clean is nothing compared to the hours of hard graft to do it yourself? By the time you've bought decent degreaser, the price difference is even less.

[MerlinGTI 3]

like I said its £5 per item to be dipped at my local engerneering firm! even better

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

it all depends on the state of the engine, if its going for a chemical dip then you need to have a properly bare block, if your just looking ti tittivate the engine without stripping to bare then the best thing to use in my opinion is TFR (tar and film remover) and a diesel powered steam lance. We do it daily at work and engines come out looking as new, no need for wire wheels and drills.

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

I work at a large dealership, we have a 20 car valet bay, the lads there mix me up a bottle of G101 from Autosmart, Spray it on (you dont need a lot) go smoke a fag, then steam clean it off. The engine will be mint.