Carl Fausett

I thought this might be informative for some of you headed towards an engine rebuild of your own someday.

It used to be - back before environmental consciousness - that when you got a block back after it was 'tanked" - it was pretty darn clean and ready for assembly.

But now - the cleansers the machine shops are forced to use are not nearly as powerful as they once were, plus, at the current cost of disposal of those solvents - many machine shops are not changing out their dunk tank fluids nearly as often.

Bottom line - after you get your block back from honing, boring, sleeving, or whatever-ing you have to clean it to remove the last of the machine oils and metals particulate matter that you KNOW are within your oil passageways and crevices.

Here is a brief tutorial of cleaning a block before assembly...

Step 1: Get yourself a supply of made-fot-it cleaning brushes. These came from summit racing. Note the different sizes and lengths. All Nylon bristle - safe for aluminum blocks. A brass wire brush can also be used on aluminum in some places (not a cylinder bore) , but never steel or stainless steel.

Carl Fausett

separate the top and bottom halves of your 928 block and carefully clean the mating surfaces...

Carl Fausett

Hook up a hose to your laundry sink and bring it outside - you are going to want the water as hot as you can get it and still work. You can use soap or citrus orange cleaner or simple green - all goood - but NEVER a caustic laundry detrergent or an alkali as that will corrode aluminum.

Coat your brushes and get at it - every nook, cranny, and crevise needs to be degreased, scrubbed, and flushed out with penty of water.

Here I am scrubbing out the oil passageways in and around the oil filter and oil pressure senders.

Carl Fausett

Even though this block was "tanked" - we found plenty of minute metal particles left from the honing process within the oil passageways. Find a brush that matches the size of every one and get at it... scrub, fluch, scrub, flush.

Carl Fausett

lots of water... a warm day... no shoes... what could be better?

Carl Fausett

the last item to get washed is the cylinder bores with the 5" cylinder bore brush.

Carl Fausett

because this block was sleeved with steel - you need to watch for rust in the cylinder bores constantly as we wash the block. With the fine cross-honing that has just been put in by the machinist, you can actually watch the rust appear BEFORE YOUR EYES.

you must check the bore early and often and wipe it out with your favorite anti-rust spray to prevent this from happening.

still - not cleaning the bores before assembly is NOT an option. If you want your rings to seal and break in correctly - you must remove the imbedded grit left in the cylinder wall cross-hatching by the machining process.

here I am wiping a coat of anti-rust film on the steel sleeves. This would not be neccesary for stock Alusil.

Carl Fausett

now you can take your compressor and blow out all the water you can from everywhere you can

Carl Fausett

here is the finished product. they recommend you leave the block out on the driveway all day in the open air to make double-damn sure that all the water has evaporated before assembly.

check the bores occasionaly to make sure that no rust is forming on them (if sleeved). On the 928, I also like to anti-rust the steel threaded insert for the oil filter and the steel insert that faces the water pump impeller.

Carl Fausett

While you are waiting for the block to dry - its a good time to get after your engine assembly area. Sweep and vacuum everywhere. You cannot assemble a clean motor in a dirty shop.

While storing or assembling your motor - cover it in a large bag. They actually sell special bags at Summit for this (can you believe it?) but a 55 gallon drum trash can liner (trash bag) does a great job.

Hope you found it interesting...

justin

Carl, looking good, now could you please quit using the 928 in the back ground as a work bench, LOL

928ntslow

Right on Carl! This is great info for all! Thank you for sharing!

Carl Fausett

Actually, I am trying to make an example of "Bad 928, Bad" to the other 928's.
Something like: "see what happens when you are not a GOOD 928 ? You get used as a workbench!" It can be very motivating. The other cars listen. They do.

AO

Carl-
I love this thread. Very informative. I hope to never have to use it.

Carl Fausett

Continuing with the engine prep - you clean the crankshaft.... here again the machine shop had it all wrapped in plastic for me after they balanced it - told me they tanked it and it was all ready for installation. Nice and clean.

Don't beleive it.

Go thru every oil passage with a nylon brush and a can of carb spray....