Can I take my block to the everyday V8 Iron hot tank? If not is there a similar procedure for cleaning our blocks?

 

Come on someone knows this. What have you guys who have done rebuilds done to clean up your bare block?

 

Mine was hot tanked, but the bores were cleaned up with the special paste for Alusil bores afterwards so I can't say if its safe if you dont clean up the bores afterwards.

 

Yeah I had planned on doing that also. So I guess thats a go on hot tanking.

 

Talk to U.S. Chrome. They have extensive knowledge on coated aluminum cylinders and repair work.

 

Boost, I just had my block done at the machine shop. I have no idea how they did it, I just notified them that it was an aluminum block and they said they could clean it without damage. When I got it back it was less than perfectly clean. I used B12 chemtool to clean all the thread sealant out of the head stud holes and all the other holes as well. Then i used a tooth brush and mineral spirits to clean the outer surfaces. this was all followed by a rinse of the entire block with mineral spirits as the last thing before assembly. hope this helps....

if you need an pic of how it turned out let me know, i still havent figured out posting images yet...

 

Boost, I finally got a pic of the block

 

Wow! that's better looking than my new block!
Do you plan to coat it to keep that finish?
Bengt

 

Umm, no. Its a daily driver and that is the blocks best side. I have some hard water deposits on the other side. I could have used some CLR to soften the deposits but I ran out of time. My goal was to just get it clean so that it would run cooler, I was suprised when it turned out so nice.

 

Coating it would only make it run hotter (well, maybe not by much), and would probably deteriorate before long, making you wish you hadn't done it.

 

I have a new 968 bare block, and was wondering if I can do some of the cleaning myself. What would I need to do to clean it up ready for the bottom end to be built up. Obviously I would want to clean out any swarf and stuff left there from the factory and clean out all the threads but I have no experience on this. Any advice, or should I start a new thread?

 

Nick, first do a search of the archive and try to fill in as many gaps as possible. Then, start a new thread, you'll get more hits. I think the most important thing is not blowing yourself up. If its a new block, it should be close to clean. But, make sure the shuffle pins are clean. The pins that keep the bearings from rotating can hide dirt and deposit it directly into the rotating surface. Ask me how I know.....

 

There's no reason why you can't hot tank an aluminum block. And I assume you mean Nikasil - not Alusil - unless you're talking about the 911 SC engine cylinder material...

Just tell them it's aluminum - or better yet - if they don't know when the see it and tell YOU it's aluminum - RUN.

HTH!

 

Are our blocks Nikasil? Wonder how that got by me. I thought they were alusil.

 

Are you sure? I have not heard of the sulfur problems that were occurring with the BMW Nikasil liners in our cars.