Well im workin on both my j and dsm and both have massive amounts of carbon build up on the pistons, vavles and valve bowls also inside the ports. Whats a good chemical to soak the head in to lossen up all this build up and to clean out all the oil? I was told that a hot tanking job would eat away at the head since its alumin on the dsm. i was told that just for the pistons that are still in the block just brake or carb cleaner and a green scrub pad would be best.

I would just use some brake clean and a soft rag. that will get it off.

although there are probably more correct ways to get it done.

well what im truly worried about is that when i get the head back together and on the engine andstart it up that something would be stuck in the head on the oil( metal shavings, dust, rust) and end up destroying the engine. That and i'm worried about water or cleanin stuff ending up in the oil to and hydro lockin the engine.

Then disassemble the head first, then clean it. A buffet-style foil pan half-full of Sea-Foam should suffice as a good way to soak them for several hours. Just blow-dry the parts fully with compressed air after wiping them when they finish soaking. In fact, if you already have a well-sized compressor... Just get an 90*-angle die tool for it & a set of wire brushes to chuck-up into it, and use that to clean the carbon off all the surfaces you can reach with it. It'll be alot faster, and won't damage anything... Except maybe your hands if you're not careful.


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

I just cleaned my spare head with Purple Power from Autozone. Spay it on let it sit a couple of minutes, spay a little more and brush any build-up with a nylon stiff bristle brush. Hose off and repeat, till clean. Dry it off and spray the valve seats and valve guides with WD-40 to prevent rust. This will take the carbon, oil gunk and paint off.

Don't let Purple Power dry on aluminum though, will cause oxidation (turns aluminum black with white scaling).

kool i'll try that stuff then. The head is taken apart. Will the Purple Power stuff eat the carbon off? I dont have a air compressor. Is there any kind of cleanin stuff you can buy in a big amount like a gallon or so. I was told about GM Top End cleaner. Anyone use that stuff?

1 Gallon Purple Power at Advance Auto Parts.

lol the advance near me actaully had 1 gal, 2.5gal and 5 gallow buckets of this stuff. Do you think i should remove the valve stem seals before soakin the head?

Yes, i'd recommend you just get new seals anyways, since its right there.

Purple Power is highly caustic. Wear gloves. You can get chemical burns.

Thank-you slowolej, I forgot to mention that. That stuff will pull the oil right out of your skin, with just brief contact, if left on, it will cause chemical burns. I've got about three pair of the old Army chemical protective gloves, that I use when cleaning anything with that stuff. Regular household cleaning gloves (don't use mom's/wife's kitchen gloves, she'll get pi$$ed) or the neoprene work gloves will work fine too.

lol yea the guy advance warned me about that too.

heres some pics of this stuff. Its amazing

damn. looks brand new



Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!

Purple Power did that? Damn...! I gotta get me some of that!


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

if no access to purple power, what to use?

Heres some more pics
Inside the exhaust ports it left some kinda white build up but now that its dried out it comes off like powder?




and it kinda funked up the out side



Im gonna take a wire brush tomorrow to the outside before i paint the head. Hopfully that will take off the blackish gray stuff and that white crap.

Brad wrote:if no access to purple power, what to use?

Castrol Super Clean, Gunk Purple Cleaner/Degreaser are just a couple. Just about all auto parts store will have a variation of it.


Ryan,

Quote:

Don't let Purple Power dry on aluminum though, will cause oxidation (turns aluminum black with white scaling).

It doesn't necessarily need to dry, but that is when usually happens. It usually will brush off.

awesome, thanks MadJack.

yea i mean as soon as i pulled it out i washed it off with a hose. i made sure i got it all off and this still happend.

well now theres a major problem. The inside of the head is covered in a white powder that only comes off with a scrub pad or a wire brush.

Your the first that I've seen to actually dip the whole head in it. I wouldn't dip an aluminum head in it, cast iron yeah, but not aluminum. Most of us usually spray it on the outside of the head, scrub it down and rinse it off. Then do our own work(P&P), then take it to the machine shop for the valve job, surfacing, machine spring pockets, etc... When they get done with the machining, they'll tank it to get the machine residue off, that will also clean out the water passages. After that, then they'll lap the vlaves and reassemble the head.

well it did the same thing to my intake.

it kinda looks like to me its calcium on it. I guess im gonna take it to a shop and see if they can get it clean. If not i guess its time for a new head.

just soak the head in kerosene. thats what they use in a parts cleaner and it works pretty damn good.


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