I'm at the point where I need to start cleaning up before I reinstall the heads. I'm worried about getting gunk in the cylinders though. How should I clean these off? Putty knife/scraper?

Also, the piston tops are covered in carbon. Is there a way I can clean them off? Or should I not bother?

 

I cleaned mine off with a putty knife and razor blade, but that took a long time. If you have an air compressor, its worth it to get a spinning attatchment and use a low abrasion pad on it though. This made the job a lot easier on my friends 3rdgen.

 

Use a piece of plastic, or metal, or something to cover the lifter valley, and put a towel or something similar to cover the pistons. Don't worry as much about the pistons as the lifter valley. The engine will burn up anything in the cylinder as long as there isn't a lot of it. Just make sure that there is NO gunk in the lifter valley.

 

Friend of mine had a pneumatic grinder you put Scotch brand pads on. Workes great for removing old gasket material. Just use the least abrasive one. To rough and you could see sparks.

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Rob P
89RSconvtZZ4TPI Edelbrock Intake
SLP Dual Cold Air Intake 1 5/8" Headers Semi-Siamesed Runners, IROC
suspension, alum shaft. Numerous mods.
92Z28convt5spd (stock)
71Impala convt 402BB
BETTER DRIVING THRU SUPERIOR HORSEPOWER!

 

i use a scrapper to get the big pieces off then a die grinder with a wire brush and then brake cleaner and compressed air

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd
MM Black Diamond 538 F&AM

 

Just finised doing this.
1. Fill the pistons with a rag
2. Buy a file an file it down until it is perfect.
3. Remove rags from piston.
4. Rotate the piston so it is all the way down.
5. Sand the cylinder walls with 600grit sand paper
6. Whipe out the piston with a clean rag.
7. spray carb cleaner it the piston and raise and lower the piston.
8. Whipe motor oil into the pisto and raise and lower it a few times.

The surface will be clean and so will the pistons.
Good Luck

 

I don't know if sanding the cylinder walls or the piston is such a good idea. Be hard to get all the grit out of there with a rag. IMO, find a less abrasive way to get rid of carbon deposits (e.g. - solvent). Just my $0.02.

 

A die grinder and wire cup are good for gaskets, carbon deposits, and even the rust around the coolant passages. And the wires that sling off are easier to dig out of the bores than silicon carbide sanding grit.

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Later,
Vader
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"Let the bodies hit the floor!"
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

If you have no air tools, take a piece of copper water pipe and smash the end into a scraper. This way there's NO chance of scratching/damaging the deck surface, or the bore if you accidently slip over the edge. A razor scraper works pretty good. Stuff paper towels down the bore before you start and clean the deck with mineral spirits/thinner before you mount the new gasket.

 

any worry about getting bits and pieces in water/oil passages, I just pulled the head off my turbo daytona. I realize this topic is old, but it's exactlt what i'm looking for.