Clean the Pistons or leave the Pistons?
 

My donor block arrived today courtesy of johnlogie(cheers mate)
Before I put my heads etc on there I'm looking for some advice on to clean the piston crowns or leave as they are?
I'm going the give the block a little clean up with carb/brake cleaner but not going to mint it out,this block is so I can get my car back on the road,I will then be splitting my block to see if it's worth a rebuild.
So if I'm to clean the Pistons up,and my valves(with them still in the heads) what is the best cleaning product and method to use?
Cheers
Rich

Id leave them mate as carbon can get trapped down the side of the piston, if you really must then get it to tdc put a little grease round the edge and clean then with parifin and scotch pad then push the piston down and wipe away the grease that will catch carbon deposits.

Thanks jay
I was thinking the same.
The bores are in good condition and I don't want to risk disturbing too many carbon deposits,I might need this bottom end to last me a while until I sort out mine.
Few pics of my donor....

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...da531d95d7.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...7050a6849c.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...a0b4c6ab28.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...85a68b6d80.jpg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...1c72753f15.jpg

I'd have them cleaned personally, as the carbon deposits will affect the cleanliness of the drive compared to cleaned, only very slightly like but fresh is better IMO, turn block so they move forward.
Think wd wipes etc will do job

Is that a classic odb? Thought you went newage?

+1 with grease idea

It's a classic busta.
Like I say it was kindly donated so I could get my car back on the road,not a long term thing(may be in there for a while tho?)
As I'm not sure until I split my block then I don't know how long this is going to be in the car?
I'm running twin scroll on a forged block atm( I think it's forged,with cosworth internals?)

So the plan is to rebuild and mint that out in the summer(slow build :) )
I will just remap this with less boost&timing etc as its my daily.
I will still have to put the twin scroll set up on but run less power and take it easy for a while.

why not just pop the pistons out while you've got it in that state. its really not that hard and requires no specialist tools. you can then clean the bores and the pistons as going by those pictures they need it!

Cheers,definatly worth thinking about,will see how I feel when I've pulled my engine out.
If it turns out that my block isn't worth rebuilding then this donor block might be longer term than I'd hoped.

The bores only need a wipe clean. The block was in the lock up for 2 years when i took those pics and I had oiled them so its only a wee bit of dirt stuck to the oil. The pistons, well they could probably do with a clean. Overall the engine did me good service and will get Rich back on the road until he can build his original engine which is the main thing

:thumb:
The sooner the car is back on the road the better.
The bores look sweet,like you say just wiped clean.
Might just leave the Pistons as they are and build it as it is,that way I can get on with splitting my block to see where I stand.
I'll have a good think tonight.