whats the best and safest grit sand paper to use to clean my block. i had the block hot tanked, but i can still see the marks were the old head gasket was, looks like its burned on, but the surface still feels smooth. also i just painted the block, and i accidently sparyed the area where the rear main seal goes, so i might need a thicker grit for that area, whats the safe grit to use so i dont damage the block.
thanks
There is no "polish" to preserve....
Just use a 12 inch Nicholson flat file....
(There are some old-time mechanics that use
a coarse wood rasp file....quick....)
^^^ please don't listen to that guy. WTF is that all about?
Make sure that you are very careful when you clean the block. You don't want to have any deep scratches at all. I used some cleaner with a scotchbrite pad, worked well to get rid of the black crap.
Scotchbrite is almost like a steelwool pad used in metalwork. <--- just in case you didn't know.
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, thats as good as they are going to feel all day. ~ Dean Martin
Surface grinding is often used to true
warped cylinder heads.
The finish left by the grinder is not
smooth, but any improfections are
are easily filled by the head gasket.
"Reflections on Automotive History" has a nice article
on the Oldsmobile Rocket 88.
GM had an awful time with oil burning because the
chrome plated piston rings tended to not wear-in.
So, GM issued a service bulletin. It recommended
putting a spoonfull of Bon-Ami cleanser into each
cylinder through the spark plug holes.
This was the only time I can remember where an
abrasive may have helped the internals of an engine.
Here's the Rocket 88 story -
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/rocket88.htm
Use a scraper with utitily razor blade, only way GM recommends cleaning head and block, its all I use.
joe4 wrote:Use a scraper with utitily razor blade, only way GM recommends cleaning head and block, its all I use.
This is the comment I would agree with. You can also use some brake cleaner to help remove the old gasket.
-Aaron
www.TurboTechRacing.com
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