cleaning head/block for new head gasket...

[malibuolds]

i am going to be picking my cylinder head up from the machine shop tomarrow. i got the head resurfaced, they took out a broken exhaust manifold stud, and installed my Mopar valve seals and cleaned the hell out of the cylinder head. i will be reinstalling the camshaft tomarrow and bolting the head onto my block with new Mopar head bolts and Mopar head gasket....

what should i use to clean the head & block surface just before i put the head on? i was going to use Brakleen and a clean new rag....would that work ok? i already got the block deck really clean, ran a tap down thru the head bolt holes and sprayed them out while the block was upside down on the engine stand. obviously the head is already nice and clean since it was resurfaced. would alcohol or something else be better or should wiping it down with a new rag and Brakleen be OK?

thanks!
__________________
Joshua Mitchell
'89 Lebaron GTS - Intercooled 2.2 T2 / g-valved @ 12psi / 2.5" JRB exhaust / 1g DSM BOV / A555
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo / Getrag 282 5spd / lowered w/ adj. coilovers

[minimopar]

Brakleen would probably be fine. I usually use denatured alcohol or acetone (cheaper than Brakleen), which ever I have handy.

Russ

Ive been told that you can cover the pistons, and any other open spaces with CLEAN cloths and you can use an sos pad - DO NOT USE ANY WATER, USE BRAKE CLEANER IF ANYTHING. Wipe it down with a clean dry cloth after, make sure there is not soap residue from the sos pad. any other questions???

[Turbodave]

I use brakecleen and my grandma's good linen.

linen??? waste of good material, use that for your oil cleanup after a oil change

[malibuolds]

thanks for the replies i tried to pick up the head yesterday, but they hadn't started on it yet.....and not only that, i saw my head while i was there - it was placed face DOWN on two other iron cylinder heads i thought that was pretty careless considering it's aluminum. i will be closesly inspecting it when i pick it up. maybe i'm worring about it too much...

__________________
Joshua Mitchell
'89 Lebaron GTS - Intercooled 2.2 T2 / g-valved @ 12psi / 2.5" JRB exhaust / 1g DSM BOV / A555
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo / Getrag 282 5spd / lowered w/ adj. coilovers

Quote:

Originally Posted by malibuolds thanks for the replies i tried to pick up the head yesterday, but they hadn't started on it yet.....and not only that, i saw my head while i was there - it was placed face DOWN on two other iron cylinder heads i thought that was pretty careless considering it's aluminum. i will be closesly inspecting it when i pick it up. maybe i'm worring about it too much...

Lol, well im sure that cant be good, keep us updated and let us know whats going on, we wanna know how it goes when you get the head back on!

Thanks!

[Aries_Turbo]

i wouldnt use the sos pad (the green ones i assume) as they have little bits of grit and if one piece of that gets between the piston and the cyl wall you are going to have scoring. even if they are the steel wool, i dont recommend that either.

for cleaning i use brakekleen or acetone. i go and get a gallon jug of acetone at walmart fromt time to time cause it cleans stuff so well. take a scraper and wrap a few layers of rags around it if you need to scrape the head any. then wipe down with acetone. also what i like to do is oil the cyl walls some before the head goes on making sure that the oil doesnt get on the top of the block. this insures that the rings have lubrication on startup. both cyls should be halfway down to do this.... obviously you realize that youll have to retime the motor before starting. good luck

Brian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aries_Turbo i wouldnt use the sos pad (the green ones i assume) as they have little bits of grit and if one piece of that gets between the piston and the cyl wall you are going to have scoring. even if they are the steel wool, i dont recommend that either. for cleaning i use brakekleen or acetone. i go and get a gallon jug of acetone at walmart fromt time to time cause it cleans stuff so well. take a scraper and wrap a few layers of rags around it if you need to scrape the head any. then wipe down with acetone. also what i like to do is oil the cyl walls some before the head goes on making sure that the oil doesnt get on the top of the block. this insures that the rings have lubrication on startup. both cyls should be halfway down to do this.... obviously you realize that youll have to retime the motor before starting. good luck Brian

Brian Brian Brian, i wasnt talking about the green ones, i was talking about the metal sheered blue ones, the best ones they have, use that sos pad - make sure its a clean area and everything that can be damaged is covered with clean cloth and it should be fine. that is what i did to mine and it worked very well. Also, DO NOT USE ANY SOAP. My friend did that and all we seen was foam comin outta the exhaust and outof the oil filter, also coming from the dipstick location.... lol that was funny!

[Aries_Turbo]

ahhh gotcha. i stay outta the kitchen heheheheh

Brian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aries_Turbo ahhh gotcha. i stay outta the kitchen heheheheh Brian

Sometimes staying outta my kitchen would require starving, starving = bad, therefor i be in kitchen alot! REMEMBER TO USE THE SOAP! j/k

[malibuolds]

i got the cylinder head back today. cost me $30 to get the valve seals replaced. i closely inspected the deck and it all looks perfect

time for me to get wrenchin'!

thanks
_________________
Joshua Mitchell
'89 Lebaron GTS - T2 / g-valved @ 12psi / 2.5" JRB exhaust / 1g DSM BOV / A555
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo / Getrag 282 5spd / lowered w/ adj. coilovers

[malibuolds]

i installed the head with my new Mopar head gasket and Mopar head bolts a few days ago but i have a question about bolt torque and wanted to be sure i did it right...my Haynes manual said to torque them to 35ft lbs, then 65, then 65 again, and finally 1/4 turn (90 degree turn). i followed the torque sequence thru each step. when i did the final 1/4 turn on all of the bolts i set the torque wrench to 90ft/lbs but it clicked before i got 1/4 turn in...so i'm guessing they are all torqued between 90-100 ft/lbs right now. should i be ok?

right now my T2 is fully assembled sitting on the engine stand all nice and clean all i need to do now is order a timing belt and SS braided oil/coolant lines for the turbo, pull it off the engine stand and then i can install my new clutch, put the A555 back on and drop it back into the GTS...

thanks again for the help!
__________________
Joshua Mitchell
'89 Lebaron GTS - T2 / g-valved @ 14psi / 2.5" JRB exhaust / 1g DSM BOV / A555
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo / Getrag 282 5spd / lowered w/ adj. coilovers

[minimopar]

Yes, they need to go PAST 90 ft-lbs on the final stretch. If the wrench doesn't click after the 1/4 turn, then the bolt is no good.

[malibuolds]

exactly what i was hoping to hear, thanks

btw nice website!
__________________
Joshua Mitchell
'89 Lebaron GTS - T2 / g-valved @ 14psi / 2.5" JRB exhaust / 1g DSM BOV / A555
'91 Cutlass Supreme sedan - 3.1 Intercooled Turbo / Getrag 282 5spd / lowered w/ adj. coilovers