is it a good idea to use a air powered die grinder?

or is that too risky?

it looks like its going to be tough to get everything off with a gasket scraper

input, comments, suggestions?

thanx

 

I've always used a gasket scraper and a vacuum.

 

i have a air powered scraper to get off the big pieces then use a die grinder with a wire cup brush in it, works great.

 

 

I'll second the die grinder and wire cup. I don't have the luxury of having an air-powered scraper, so I use a hand scraper for the bulk of the material. The die grinder/wire cup polishes all the residue and rust formation and leaves a perfect gasket sealing surface. Since it also scatters material and wire ends all over the place, you NEED to use safety glasses or goggles, and should cover anything that might be damaged by flying particles (like your paint).

 

Forgot. I also have used a rust stripping wheel. Works excellent even on aluminum.

 

razorblade. the safest thing in my eyes. i dont liek the idea of grinders and thing that take metal off. to much of a possibility of the gasket not makin a good seal.

 

I'm about to do the same thing. Should I use a brass brush in the die grinder, or will steel do?

 

I don't have the luxury of air tools so I use a wire cup brush in an electric drill after I scrape off the big junk with a scraper...works great.

 

I always use this strange lubricant to get jobs like that done..........a butt load of elbow grease!

 

Use a razor blade to remove the old stuck gaskets.
Use a bunch of 3M scothbrite abrasive pads with a electric drill
to get the last little bits.
Do not install the heads till you get it spotless.
A rotary wire brush will just get a bunch of metal in the motor.
All the metal bits will destroy your rings in short order.
Try some permetex spray gasket remover.

 

I'm still waiting for that spray gasket remover to actually work for me... maybe I got a bad can or something. When I had to do the heads for my friend's 2.8-for-2.8 swap, we just used scrapers... blew the top of the motor off with compressed air to get all the junk out of the water jackets and piston holes.

 

F-BIRD'88...are you talking about plain-ole scotch brite pads? Or do they make something that mounts to a drill?

TomP...for nasty, baked on gaskets (such as the runner gaskets on a 15 year old TPI engine) I used spray on paint remover. I got this wicked stuff from Sears Hardware. It was in a really tall spray can...it worked VERY well.