RyanPerrella

Hello all

I have been looking for a small nylon cleaning brush to go onto a diegrinder to use to remove carbon from the combustion chambers, removed valves, and piston tops. Anyone know where i can get a disc or some type of cleaning material thats safe to use on the aluminum heads and pistons as well as the valves themselves.

I would assume an abrasives supplier would have what i am looking for, I will try couple places local to me tomorrow, but I thought I would post and see if anyone else knows of a great way to remove the old carbon off those various parts.

Thanks

ZEUS+

GM has a product called top engine cleaner in a foam spray or liquid. It is intended for carbon removal while engine is running. I have found that it also helps to break down carbon and varnish on disassembled parts. 3M makes roloc cleaning discs in various grades and sizes.

RyanPerrella

Yeah i am familiar with that type of stuff, but i am looking for something thats used to remove carbon from engine parts, as in not running but individual pieces.

Airflite40

i have heard lacquer thinner works also. never tried myself though, so I would wait until someone else confirms....

ZEUS+

It works well on disassembled parts as a pre-soak. Is this a complete tear down or just top end ?

flyinglynx

I used a dremel tool... there is a bit that is sort-of like a tough sponge. It effectively removed the carbon from all the little nooks without scratching the aluminum. It took about 8 or 10 bits to do the whole job... but they're only a buck or two.

GUMBALL

The product is called "Roloc", it is velcro pad on a shaft that fits a 1/4" drill, that takes scotchbrite pads. The less agressive pads work well for removing carbon, and not harming the aluminum surface. Available from hardware or body shop supply stores.

http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...ml?p_catid=148

mspiegle

3M makes a special brush designed to be mounted to a die grinder. It should remove carbon, but not alter the surface of metal components.

3M Roloc Bristle Discs:
http://www.tool-co.de/news/bristle/Bristle3.jpg

RyanPerrella

Mike those are what i was looking for, Now where the hell do i find those locally, they dont seem to be the typical thing you find in local hardware shop. I have seen these in action but never knew what they were marketed as or who made them. Thanks

Off to the local abrasives store tomorrow

still if anyone has other methods to suggest by all means please post them

Bill Ball

I dumped some heavily carboned motorcycle pistons and valves in some Berrymans parts cleaner - sold in gallon cans - closed the can and let them sit for a month. That did it - a few days won't do it. Note this solvent leaves a tacky residue, but I discovered it washes off in plain water.

Mike Simard

For commonly available things, there's oven cleaner.

blown 87

NAPA carries them around here, so does all of the tool truck guys.
Be carefull they will remove metal, never use them on a sealing surface.

Garth S

..... just a caution though: most oven cleaners are alkali/caustic types, and that will quickly discolour and pit aluminium (NaOH + Al ----> Al(OH)3 ).

dr bob

Most oven cleaners are quite caustic, and will do a number on the aluminum. Ryan-- the 3M pads are usually available at body shop supply places. There are more than a few in our neighborhood.

The 'parts dip' solution is often a little acidic. Aluminum bits left in there for an extended period will come up gray and oxidized.

If the parts are out of the car/engine:

Valves clean up nicely with a medium steel wire wheel/brush on the grinder. The steel in the valves is as tough as the wire wheel, so no worries with damage.

Piston tops are pretty durable. You can take the bulk of the carbon off with the same wire wheel, but stay away from the edges and the ring lands. For those areas, a solvent soak for a week will help without risking the metal at all. Then a hand cleaning with a 3M scotchbrite pad will remove the last chunks. Use a proper ring groove cleaner to keep the edges of the lands from being damaged when you clean them. It just takes a little distortion or scratching with a scraper, screwdriver, razor knife, whatever, to ruin a piston. Work sitting down at the bench, over a plastic dishpan with no other parts in it. If you drop a piston on the floor or on other parts, it will likely be junk instantly.

mspiegle

Ryan - what part of LA are you in?