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This series of web pages assumes you know how to tear down an engine. If not, look on
page four for a "must have" book that will cover everything covered here, and more. When
you get your block back from the machinist, it will have been hot tanked. However, they
do this before all the machining operations, so assuming your block was bored, honed,
linehoned, decked, or anything like that, it will be covered in machining metal dust, and
cutting oil.
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You should try to get your block washed pretty quick after getting your block back, because
the metal powder that remains in the bores will rust quickly, which is not what you
want. Anyway, load your block up in the back of your pickup, or vehicle of choice, and bring
a toilet brush, rifle brush, brake cleaner, fogging oil, and a roll of paper towel. Find
your local self service wand wash place, and bring some quarters.
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Fire up the pressure washer with the degreaser if available, hot soap if not. Get the
entire block pressure washed. Pay particular attention to the bores and to the three oil
passages that run from the front of the block to the rear of the block. The openings to
these passages are all right around the cam. Also spray directly into the oil pump hole
and the oil filter hole. When the first set of quarters runs out, get out your toilet brush
and scrub the bores. Then use your rifle brush and scrub the oil passages. Now feed in another
set of quarters and set the washer to hot water rinse. Hose out the bores, oil passages, and
all the other areas.
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Think you did a good job cleaning? Lets find out. Take your paper towels, and grab a
couple. Soak them down with brake cleaner, and start wiping out the bores. You'll quickly
see that they are not as clean as you'd think. Continue to wipe out the bores using paper
towels until the towels start coming out clean. It will take a couple of passes. Now take
your towels, and clean the deck surface, and the main bearing surfaces.
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Once you have your block cleaned, bores and decks wiped, and main bearing surfaces clean,
take some more paper towels and dry as much water as you can find. Once you have the block
reasonably dry, take the fogging oil and spray down any metal that looks shiny (this includes
bores, deck, main line). Remember that bare metal rusts incredibly fast, so this stage is a
must. I've had blocks rust on the way home from the pressure wash place, so I now bring my
fogging oil with. Try not to hit anyplace where you're going to be painting, because you will
have to clean the oil off to paint the surfaces.
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