Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Cleaning Block interior water jacket

I was reading Tom langdon's 12 recommendations for building your engine and #1 Make sure the engine is clean by chemical immersion using a chemical rust stripper. I have already had the machine work done on my 261 is there any way to clean blocks interior water jacket with chemical strippers with out effecting the fresh machine work? Where can I get these chemical strippers and what are the brand names?

Back when I was still in the Marines at Yuma, the old staff sargeant who ran the hobby shop garage had me cleaning out the bores of the oil passages on my just machined 292 with .30 cal rifle brushes on a ramrod using military bore cleaner. I chased it down with a lot of WD40. That engine ran for 25 years.

Thanks for the reply. Do you recall what the bore cleaner was?

Water jackets are diverent from oil lines (as the names says)

If you want to get rid of all the gunk that accumulated over the years in the water jacket get 2 gallons of phosphor acid (same thing like in Pepsi and Coke). Mix it with 2 gallons of water. Block of the opening in the front of the block and head (waterpump and all others). Fill it at the little holes where the head and the block mates. Let it sit for a day or 2.

That not only removes all the rust it leaves a phosphate layer that protects it from future rust.

Flush everything with a garden hose for 30 minutes.

Be carefull, wear rubber gloves and googles. That acid wil not eat your hand to the bare bones but try not to get to much contact. Do it outside, because of the fumes.

I did this twice and it works just great.

It will not harm your new machine work but will leave a ugly looking brown layer on it that can be removed with soap water and some polish.

Frank

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LIVING IN THE PAST TODAY
http://www.TheSavoy.de

I think Hoppe's No. 9 would work for the oil passages.

I don't know what % concentration Phosphoric Acid C-Dan-D-Luxe was able to purchase overseas, but in the USA you cannot buy full strength (85%) unless you have a registered business that requires the use of it. Despite its very weakened use in soda, that's why a spill screws up your auto paint finish , at full strength it is extremely corrosive and requires copious amounts of water to flush away.Despite what he says and I know he means well, skin contact can damage the nerve endings, fume overexposure can damage your lungs, and obviously you can lose your sight even with protective googles if they don't fit right. I won't even get into what flushing it away does to the environment.
Okay. I'm off my horse. They're must be a safer commercial product available.

Phosphoric acid is commonly used in the auto body trades to remove and convert surface rust. Two products I've used are Henkel #79 Metal Prep and something I like even better is called Rust Mort. I've never used either to clean out a water jacket so can't give advice. Be careful with spilling these as phosphoric acid HATES concrete. Also check to be sure that your machine shop didn't already clean out the block as most good shops won't start work without "boiling out" the block. The process very often leaves the block looking slightly the worse for wear but in fact it's been chemically cleaned. You will still need to drive your gun cleaning kit down into all the oil passages though using agressive solvents. I've used gun cleaning patches to make sure that there is no residue left. Good luck!

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Ron 1801

Wheelspin/Ron is right about autobody shops
using those products and you may be able to buy these from an autopaint supply business. The Phosphoric Acid concentration is 75% in Rust Mort and 10 to 35% in Metalprep depending on the manufacturer so that would be the safer choice although in the case of heavy rust removal , would take longer. The reason it destroys cement is because it loves Oxides,i.e.,rust and cement contains Calcium Oxide.

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Drew
'55 Chevy

Dear Cujo;

I would concern yourself with cleaning any and all places where the oil goes. Once the engine is running you can flush out the cooling system.

Those chemicals are really dangerous & It's NOT worth the risk.

Good luck, John M.,#3370

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First off, have you looked around inside the block to see if there is anything in there to even worry about? a light patina of rust isn't going to be any real problem. The shop should have at least hot tanked it before machining. If fact, they would have needed to clean it just to magniflux it properly. You did have it magnifluxed, right?
Since you have had it machined allready, I would just visually inspect it for crusty gunk, especially the rear 2 cylinders, and let it go at that. Trying to flush it out with costic chemicals now could cause more problems than its worth. If it is full of crap, I would take it back to the shop and make them deal with it.
As for chemical rust removers, I have used a product called Oxisolve. Eastwood sells it, and I usually see dealers selling it at the larger swapmeets around here. It won't do anything to the gunk inside, but it will remove any oxidation to metal parts.

I want to agree with everything I have read here about not using phosphric acid. I use a solution to remove lime scale from ice machines of a certain manufacturer. It will ruin some machines. It is dangerous stuff and you want to be sure no other chemical is present. As careful as I am and as long as I have used this product, I nearly chlorine gassed myself to death just recently, and all because I neglected to rinse my measuring beaker. I was using sodium chlorite as a sanitizer and poured it into the measuring beaker. The beaker was EMPTY, all it took was residue. Don't have any sodium chlorite around? Bet you do. It is called clorox.

Back in the Dynamometer Lab they used a product called Alconox (sp?), a caustic powder that looked like laundry detergent granules. I think its use was discontinued because of concerns with flushing it down the Dearborn sewer system after it was circulated through the running engine. But it sure made the water jackets look like new.

The phosphoric acid we can get over here in "old Europe" ;-) has a 70% concentration. If you mix it 1:1 with water it is still nasty but not to dangerous.

Same or less concentration as in commercial products from the home depot but way cheaper.

When I did the first engine I had plenty on my cloth and skin. The old coverall has some light spots now, no skin problems since i washed it off quickly.

It is important to do it outside as I said because of the fumes.

For those who don`t like acids: Powder for dish washers works great to (need real hot water and let it sit over night). It does nothing to the rust, but removes a lot of gunk.

Frank



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LIVING IN THE PAST TODAY
http://www.TheSavoy.de

They got some safer products now.
Never used them but sounds good to me.

Check this out
http://www.alconox.com/static/section_customer/ind_metal.asp

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LIVING IN THE PAST TODAY
http://www.TheSavoy.de

Thanks for all the ideas about cleaning my blocks interior water jacket. I will try to clean the rust and scale which I can see at the various holes and openings, but I would like to soak the interior water jacket with one of rust and scale removal products discussed hear. Any recommendations on how to plug all the water holes, so that I can let it sit over night before I flush it out? I plan on coating any freshly machined surfaces with grease before I attempt the water jacket cleaning.