hot tanking?

I know if I have an alumium block it cant be hot tanked..so my question is..Is my 88 block alumium or iron??

[lametec]

Iron. All 2.2/2.5 engines are.

[Chris Faulk]

With a high-nickel content.

Very very sturdy stuff...

[Tim_K]

What will hot tanking do to aluminum? Mess it up and give it a rough surface like if you poured muriatic acid on it and let it sit? I tried that once with an old aluminum piston.

What chemicals are used to clean aluminum parts? I asked my machinist once after he cleaned a head for me, and he said "very expensive carburetor cleaner". And he also bead blasted the head. It was very clean, even in the exhaust ports.

[turboking]

There is a new process. What they do is blast the engine with oil and stainless steel shot. What u get is a perfectly clean block(rust, slag, carbon removed , block looks brand new) They do not paint the block before u get it. ONE PROBLEM, Being they shoot the block with oil impregnated shot, the oil gets into the pores of the steel block. Even after cleaning the block with 6 cans of starting fluid u cannot powdercoat the block (powdercoat comes off easily)

Carl

[phantomrt]

One of the ways they like to clean engine blocks are as follows:

The EPA kinda likes this method also. They refer to it as "thermal cleaning". They take the block, head, whatever it is, and throw it in an oven and bake them at very high temperatures, which simply burns off all the oil and gunk so it essentially flakes right off. Then, they shove it in a machine called a "steelabrator" which will blast the block with steel beads... just like sandblasting. Then just wash out the block and all, and everything is good again.

To get things to look brand new again, there has to be some type of abraisive used, so I am told. Unless there's a way to chemically "eat" away at the block a bit to remove the rust or whatnot thats in there, leaving it looking brand new again.

When they did mine with this method, all was good except the idiots did not remove the check valve thing where the oil filter screws on.... needless to say, it was impossible to wash out the impurities. It is the engine builder's responsibility to do a final cleaning of the engine, but since I had the machine shop install the core plugs for me, (making it impossible to do a thorough cleaning again) I figured it was all good and they did that. Well, it would have been if they removed that check valve. If I didn't have to tear the engine back apart for other reasons, those little steel balls woulda REALLY done some damage.

[turbovanman]

Hot tank is a high temp caustic solution, it will eat aluminum alive. They now have hot water washers that use bio soap. You put the parts in, it heats up and shoots hot water at the parts and spins them. Works awesome but there expensive, I want one, there around $8000, but can't afford it.

[diabloed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbovanman Hot tank is a high temp caustic solution, it will eat aluminum alive. They now have hot water washers that use bio soap. You put the parts in, it heats up and shoots hot water at the parts and spins them. Works awesome but there expensive, I want one, there around $8000, but can't afford it.

My brother is a heavy machinery mechanic. most the places he works have had one!! I always drop off parts for him!

[turbovanman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by diabloed My brother is a heavy machinery mechanic. most the places he works have had one!! I always drop off parts for him!

Nice! I have a friend who has his own shop and I use his, charges me 10 or 20 bucks but worth every penny!

[Tim_K]

I know a shop that rebuilds automatic transmissions, and they have one of those hot water washers that spins parts around. It does a pretty good job on aluminum parts that are covered in ATF and dirt and grease. I've seen what it can do with about a 15 minute cleaning cycle.

I have a 287 casting cylinder head that I may take to them for cleaning prior to some porting work.

[Andre Parker]

Wallace and I are getting one very soon.

[dwh4784]

About how much should a shop charge to clean a head? I have one that needs it and have no idea what I might end up paying.

[turbovanman]

Probably around $15-20.

[Moparmonster]

The process that phantomrt described is the same that was used at the crank I worked at.