for cleaning, I highly recommend taking the block to a machine shop for a good wash, nothing you can do on your own will ever come close. And it shouldn't be too expensive, less than $100 I think when I had mine washed? It came out insanely clean, degreased and basically ready for paint. I did pop the main oil galley plugs out and cleaned the passage thoroughly with a shotgun cleaning kit, they come with brass bottle brushes... I just attached the rod to a power drill and went through several times at fairly low speed.
