piston clean up

#6
I dont have pics but mine had a LOT of carbon and such built up on them. I put them in a parts washer and went at them with a wire brush, one large for the top, and a small one for the Valve reliefs. After that I took care of the brown on the sides and then let them soak for another few days. When I got them out to dry them off they looked brand new. No marks, no scoring just a clean piston!
 
#7
Boss 351 said:
My 351 was as bad and I used a very soft wire brush, and a round pad that was made of some sort of plastic... I guess people use that thing for gasket removal...

http://nerdzfx.com/Mustang/the351.html
Click to expand...
right on man i got 2 questions for you.................

1. what did you use to clean up that block and those piston heads?
2. what kinda paint did you use to paint that block i want that same color and everything i found some through eastwood called engine paint and they had ford production blue i wanted but didnt know if it was any good.

i was thinking about soaking the pistons in paint thinner for a couple days and then going at it with a wire brush what do you think? but what ever you used seemed to work great looking at your site so let me know please!!!!!! :hail2:
 
#8
ooh ps the pistons are also going in this this monday to get fly cut as well for my afr 185cc heads. and is it ok to paint all that? the balancer and oil filter and all? i was just gonna tape all that off?
 
#9
If they are being flycut I would be shocked if the machine shop didn't tank and clean them. My local shop charged me $40 to fully clean 8 stock piston,rod assembles.

I personally like to paint the components individually off the car then assemble it all...remember what ever you paint may chip later on so touch up can be a PIA. Paint on the oil filter will disappear the first time you change your oil.
 
#10
ya i know that about the oil filter i have since cleaned one piston but could not get the rod cleaned so are you saying the machine shop will so all that for me? do you know a general idea of how much it would be to fly-cut a piston?
 
#12
Be carefull because sometimes you can crack a piston trying to free the rod. Let the machine shop take care of that but they may break it too... good time to get new pistons though lol.

I only used lots of hard work to clean the block. The story behind this is that the engine was all messy and every year we throw a new years party in the garage. I didn't want all my friends to see a crappy engine so I cleaned and painted it. Even if it will have to be redone, I didn't care.

I cleaned the engine with brake cleaner (good high from that stuff too lol) and sanded everything with a wire brush. The block became silver meaning I got rid of all the rust before painting but that took many, many messy hours. I just used a wire brush on the pistons and that plastic thing (don't know what it's called - sorry). I used WD40 to clean them and used my air gun to blast the crap away from all that brushing... My pistons are going in the trash since I'm getting a stroker kit which contains forged .30 over pistons but they are not dammaged from my cleaning job or anything...

This is the paint I used: http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html Oh and about the oil filter... it's easier to put a cheapo on than to tape everything up lol. Also the engine was painted in pieces... something about painting over gaskets that I don't like.

CODE: DE 1601 Ford Blue (see all colors here: http://www.duplicolor.com/products/colors/highheat.html).

I painted my cousin's 69 Cougar's engine with this paint and it's perfect after 3 years of use still.
 
#13
dude all i got to say is you are the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for all your help. you answered all my questions now i even know what paint i need but i dont know where to get it or how much it cost's? but as for the rods and pistons some people have told me the machine shop will do it when i take it to them to be fly-cut. so i will just leave the rods on and let them take care of it.
 
#14
The paint can be found at Wal-Mart or Autozone ;)

Let the machine shop push the pins out inspect everything then assemble the rods, get new ARP bolts while you are at very cheap and worth it while it is apart, you'll break the stock rod before you snap the ARP bolt.

Are you going to have the assemble balanced since they are flycutting the pistons? Based on how much the machine wants for the fly cutting you could get a set of Probe SRS series pistons that will have the proper design for your motor. I thought when I checked on flycutting a few years back is was going to be around $225. New good pistons can be had for under $400...
 
#15
it will take no time for the pistons to just get dirty agian, but if you have the motor apart, as in pistons out and everything, by all means have them cleaned for sure! arp bolts are always smart, reconditioned rods, see, you will be pushing quite a bit of hp on a stock block, you need good internals or it wont last long at all...
 
#16
Boss 351 you spent alot of effort on that engine. Don't have to strip it down to bare metal to get paint on it, and why do you have to repaint it every year? I bet it looks good though.

The piston tops look pretty good, just some buildup in the middle. For piston cleaning use a wire brush in a drill or a die grinder at low speed. Should be able to get it all more or less shiny with brush marks; if you really want to prevent further buildup in the future then the piston (especially the top) should be polished to a mirror finish. And no it does not take a week of driving to build up the carbon, what you see there accumulated gradually over the time it was in there.

It's much easier to paint parts individually as you assemble. For the best appearance paint only the metal and remove hoses, wires, sensors, belts, etc. and mask off what you don't. Some oil filters come with a plastic wrap which I leave on till painted, otherwise just don't bother. No paint on unassembled gaskets and sand off mating surfaces that get overspray. When the engine is completely assembled... then give everything a final coat, especially in the cracks with head and oil pan gaskets. DupliColor makes Ford Blue paint, theirs is good stuff but I don't know about that color match yet.
 
#17
Rick 91GT said:
The paint can be found at Wal-Mart or Autozone ;)

Let the machine shop push the pins out inspect everything then assemble the rods, get new ARP bolts while you are at very cheap and worth it while it is apart, you'll break the stock rod before you snap the ARP bolt.

Are you going to have the assemble balanced since they are flycutting the pistons? Based on how much the machine wants for the fly cutting you could get a set of Probe SRS series pistons that will have the proper design for your motor. I thought when I checked on flycutting a few years back is was going to be around $225. New good pistons can be had for under $400...
Click to expand...
yes i guess i will have to have it balanced,where can i find the arp bolts are these the one's for the rod caps? i am just gonna reuse my stock rods/pistons/crank becuase i plan to build up another block soon but what is involved with geting the rods re-conditioned? i wasnt gonna have the crank turned either because i bought the standard re-build kit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MadSquirrelTech
Engine Suggestions on an engine rebuild. Stock cam/GT40Ps or aftermarket on both for a fun weekend driver?
Replies
23
Views
553
Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech
MadSquirrelTech
MadSquirrelTech
G
4.6L rods and piston into a 5.4L
Replies
0
Views
214
2005 - 2014 S-197 Mustang -General/Talk-
Green mustang
G
limp
Cleaning up Aluminum
Replies
13
Views
308
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
KRUISR
KRUISR
PonyGTrider
Engine Forged flat top pistons from 5.0 fit a 351 build?
Replies
17
Views
1K
Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech
PonyGTrider
PonyGTrider
5
Brakes ATS brembos and drums
Replies
19
Views
464
Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech
AeroCoupe
AeroCoupe
Top Bottom
Back
Forums
Menu