Take a look for me...clean enough?

[tokendog]

I am about ready to put my head back on and I am wondering if this is clean enough? I am not using a metal head gasket. I am going with OEM HG from Nissan and ARP head bolts.

I've tried about every thing I can think of to clean the block up, but the residue just does not go away.

Here are the pics, please give me your input:







Let me know. If you feel that I can or need to get it cleaner than this, please provide a means other than Roloc pad, liquid gasket remover, razor blade, etc. as I've tried those methods and it did not work.

Thanks guys/gals!!

[slowvia]

have you tried using a drill with a wire brush attatched to it?

[lostconcepts]

Try using an SOS Pad to clean the block more thoroughly. It worked wonders on my block and head!

[Slipstream]

Regular green scour pad and water will clean it off with some elbow grease.

[tokendog]

Will that scratch the surface? Just water, nothing else?

[Emperor_Tha]

dish detergent/water and 320 grit sand paper. U can go lower grit with sand paper if its not cleaning fast enough for you.

Rolec the brown disc should work and even the plastic disk

[leroiboy]

no-that is how you end up with an untrue block or head. use carb cleaner and stone the block.(if advance,oriely or autozone doesn't have you it, your local speed shop will). when complete check the block/head for flatness.

or send it to me and ill run it through an ultrasonic for you...

[tokendog]

no-that is how you end up with an untrue block or head. use carb cleaner and stone the block.(if advance,oriely or autozone doesn't have you it, your local speed shop will). when complete check the block/head for flatness.

or send it to me and ill run it through an ultrasonic for you...

Thanks. Will carb cleaner pit aluminum or is there any thing I should know about it? Enjuku Racing told me that they use brake parts cleaner and a razor. Also, I will research it a bit more, but what is "stoning" the block?

Thanks!

[leroiboy]

carb/brake cleaner is fine. stoning the block is a great way for ones doing this at home and do not want to incur the expenses of a machine shop of cleaning and getting surfaces flat, as opposed to sand paper and dishwashing pads. once you get your hands on a stone, you will use it pretty much in the same manner as a file. keep it wet with the carb/brake cleaner and make sure you keep the stone flat as you do this. a razor is good for removing old gasket material but be careful not to gouge the soft aluminum.

[tokendog]

Thanks a lot for the information.

[Hijacker]

I've always used 3M roloc discs designed to clean aluminum. I had a big discussion about it recently on the boards. I forget in what thread though.

[tokendog]

Yeah. I tried using the little white ones with the tendrils or whatever you call it - but they scratched the surface and left swirls in the metal. A friend says they are almost the exact same thing used to clean aluminum pots and pans.

I was trying to not scratch the surface as much as possible. I instead used a 3M green pad that is flat and does not have the tendrils and is very brittle. It didn't leave swirls in the metal and removed a good bit of the gasket material but left behind the residue.

[Hijacker]

The green pads are not designed to remove gasket material. That's a grinding pad for grinding down metal. I use it primarily for cleaning up splotchy welds.

You really need to look at the maroon pads or the grey pads. They're the best for cleaning off gasket material.

[tokendog]

well thats the thing - i thought the same thing too, but this didn't really even hurt the metal. There's no scratches and it left a lot of residue. Isn't it safe to say if it were removing metal, the residue would have went with it?

Not sure if I have the gray pads or not, but these definitely look green, but like I said, didn't hurt the metal at all.

The white tendril brushes I got from 3M did more damage to the metal than the green scotch pads.

[Hijacker]

These are the discs not to use on your gasket mating surfaces. I have only ever used these to grind welds down and clean up burns from plasma cutters. These do remove material and metal, and really easily I might add. As far as I know, it's the only green disc that 3M makes for the roloc series.

3M Roloc 1396 Green Corps 2" Roloc Discs. Green button. Generally used for hard to reach areas in paint, rust, and weld removal. Handy quick change tool for disc grinding which fits any standard 1/4 in drill or air tool.

These are the recommended type of discs to remove gaskets off aluminum

3M 7516 Roloc Surface Conditioning quickly removes cork or paper gaskets and form-in-place gasket material prior assembling drive train components engine blocks, heads, and valve covers. Best used on aluminum parts.

I've used these alot for cleaning aluminum mating surfaces without any negative effects even though the product description says it's for steel.

3M Roloc 7481 Surface Conditioning Discs quickly removes cork or paper gaskets and form-in-place gasket material prior assembling drive train components engine blocks, heads, and valve covers. Best used on steel parts.

[tokendog]

This is what I used...



It looks like the gray ones but it is green and it did not appear to damage the metal at all. In fact, it took several of these, and there is still that pesky residue.

Thanks for the pictures though as I do know which ones you are talking about now and no, those are definitely not the ones I used. I touched those with my fingers and knew immediately they would eat metal off my block. The one I used is brittle and you can pull pieces of the sanding material off rather easily, so I figured it would be safe for metal, specifically aluminum.

The white ones I used are...

but the one I used is white, not yellow, and is a softer grit, and it STILL ate the metal and left scratches...

I bought some brake parts cleaner today and I am going to try that and see if it works.
Modified by tokendog at 7:25 PM 5/27/2008