Topic: Engine Block & Components Cleaning

[VikingNJ]

Hello Everyone,

Curious, I want to clean (degrease and de-rust) my engine block to get it clean and preserve. Its not in car and being stored for rebuild in future. I want to clean and store block until rebuild time. There must be products (old and/or new) out there better and ones that wont harm the metal surface. I assume block cleaning with be the same for head cleaning and preservation.

I also want to clean and then preserve engine components like crank and pistons & rods.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

[67gtasanjose]

Hello Everyone,

Curious, I want to clean (degrease and de-rust) my engine block to get it clean and preserve. Its not in car and being stored for rebuild in future. I want to clean and store block until rebuild time. There must be products (old and/or new) out there better and ones that wont harm the metal surface. I assume block cleaning with be the same for head cleaning and preservation.

I also want to clean and then preserve engine components like crank and pistons & rods.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

What stands out to me is this "unstated" future date. A few weeks? a few months? a few years? I believe the answer depends on the anticipated date of the rebuild.

Honestly, without such a "known date",the caked on grease etc. might be a better option (for most situations) than a tear down if you plan to wait on restoring it. Your biggest enemy is moisture, weather and climate. Storing a spotless, "oil free" item with "machined surfaces" could result in unplanned damage, regardless the "preservation" method used. Items get lost or rusted or pitted and in the area of the crankshaft or camshaft, an otherwise "usable" item could end up needing more to "ready" it for use again than what is initially needed when it was torn apart.

My thoughts are that if the engine is out of car, better yet if starter is still able to be used on a bellhousing,... I would pull plugs and pump a few oil-can squirt-shots of a heavy motor oil into each cylinder, put plugs back in and spin it over a couple of revolutions, cover up with heavy tarping (or the likes) and periodically consider doing the same thing (maybe annually).

Yes, it might be nice to know the condition before putting into storage but damaging anything "good" about it might not be worth the "knowledge"of it's condition

[VikingNJ]

Motor is all disassembled, that is the way its been for years as I got it that way. Surface rust everywhere including internal surfaces of motor. That's my reason for this post. Is it worth cleaning off parts and then preserving it now instead of the alternative and letting it sit. Maybe its best just to clean by de-greasing and then neutralize the surface rust so that honing the machined areas is all that it might need later just prior to rebuild. I am concerned I will need to re-bore the motor prior to a rebuild instead. That's my dilemma right now. Just trying to get some ideas.

[67gtasanjose]

Motor is all disassembled, that is the way its been for years as I got it that way. Surface rust everywhere including internal surfaces of motor. That's my reason for this post. Is it worth cleaning off parts and then preserving it now instead of the alternative and letting it sit. Maybe its best just to clean by de-greasing and then neutralize the surface rust so that honing the machined areas is all that it might need later just prior to rebuild. I am concerned I will need to re-bore the motor prior to a rebuild instead. That's my dilemma right now. Just trying to get some ideas.

I might think about sending the block to a machine shop, have them hot tank it and ask the shop for their next suggestion. Keep in mind that a perfectly clean block & heads will rust MUCH easier. Otherwise, just lather everything in a coat of grease & leave it for another day.

[Bob Gaines]

I might think about sending the block to a machine shop, have them hot tank it and ask the shop for their next suggestion. Keep in mind that a perfectly clean block & heads will rust MUCH easier. Otherwise, just lather everything in a coat of grease & leave it for another day.

+1 . Then you will know what you will have to do in the future.  If cleaned off and inspected it will have to be preserved someway otherwise rust/corrosion can change the condition from the inspection day compared to future rebuild day. What every you use to preserve it will need to be cleaned off for future engine work. The machine shop that does the inspection probably has some long term rust inhibitor products they use. i would seal it up in a plastic bag after preservative treatment . I think Jegs or Summit sell the bags if the machine shop doesn't .

[VikingNJ]

Thanks,

I would think de-greasing, then de-rusting and then preserving by coating it thoroughly and placing it a bag of some kind at this point would be better than letting sit as it is currently. I like the idea of getting the engine block, heads and crank to an engine place and hot tanking it. At that point their evaluation of condition would help in the next of preserving/storing for the eventual engine rebuild....

As for the pistons and connecting rods, I can clean them up and preserve/store them myself. What do you recommend for cleaning them and preserving.