240260280 Posted March 23, 2018 Share #1 Posted March 23, 2018 Fired up the brass wire brushes, ultrasonic cleaner and bucket of spray 9 cleaner. Also used Zep Purple for the heavy stuff. All went well... now an expert at removing rings. Can't separate the oil pump yet... it is a tough one. My propane touch will convince it tomorrow. 1 Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannyknot Posted March 23, 2018 Share #2 Posted March 23, 2018 Which engine are you working on now? Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545467 Share on other sites More sharing options...
240260280 Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted March 23, 2018 44 minutes ago, grannyknot said: Which engine are you working on now? 260z for a friend. Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545471 Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteunseen Posted March 23, 2018 Share #4 Posted March 23, 2018 12 hours ago, 240260280 said: Fired up the brass wire brushes, ultrasonic cleaner and bucket of spray 9 cleaner. Also used Zep Purple for the heavy stuff. All went well... now an expert at removing rings. Can't separate the oil pump yet... it is a tough one. My propane touch will convince it tomorrow. Those Webers you had in that ultrasonic cleaner, how did they come out? Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545477 Share on other sites More sharing options...
240260280 Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted March 23, 2018 I just did a few parts from some SK's when I first got the Ultrasonic, Yesterday I did all 6 pistons. They came out great. 3 things that make a difference: 1. Pre-cleaning helps. I soaked pistons in hot water with Spray 9 heavy duty cleaner and used a brass wire brush to scrub. When the rings were removed I used a 4mm and 2mm ring cleaner to get the groves. 2. The ultrasonic bath must be very hot with a good cleaner (spray 9 again as it is nice to aluminum) 3. Run the ultrasonic for two 10min cycles with a movement between. It is not nearly as nice as Duff'd vapour blasting but they come out very clean. 1 Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545478 Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteunseen Posted March 23, 2018 Share #6 Posted March 23, 2018 I have plenty of "before" pictures of those Webers I used to own we can use for the "after" comparison if you go that route. Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545483 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff G 78 Posted March 23, 2018 Share #7 Posted March 23, 2018 I tried to clean pistons and no matter what I used, they wouldn't come clean, so I gave them to my machine shop and they came back looking great. Same with the front cover. Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545485 Share on other sites More sharing options...
240260280 Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Jeff G 78 said: I tried to clean pistons and no matter what I used, they wouldn't come clean, so I gave them to my machine shop and they came back looking great. Same with the front cover. I think next time I'll get a hot plate and big enamel lobster boiler and boil them with spray-9 to see how it works. If you go the water cleaning route, you need to oil them to prevent rust, especially the spring metal plates inside. I read that some have luck just soaking in diesel/furnace oil for 24 hours. Edited March 23, 2018 by 240260280 Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545486 Share on other sites More sharing options...
240260280 Posted March 24, 2018 Author Share #9 Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) Started to fit new rings (ITM). - FSM Gap range is 0.230mm to .0380mm (avg = 0.305mm) - Rule-of-Thumb Gap range is 0.249mm to .0332mm (avg = 0.291mm) - The gap for the original top ring in #1 was 0.69mm. - The ITM gap is 0.290mm (perfect as is). Any idea why the stock gap was so big? 0.69mm = 0.027" (maybe the previous engine builder mixed 0.27mm for 0.027") ? Edited March 24, 2018 by 240260280 typo Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545513 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted March 24, 2018 Share #10 Posted March 24, 2018 I'm thinking the previous builder screwed up. I agree that it could have been a units issue. Or maybe his math was just questionable. Math mistakes can crop up in the strangest places... 1 hour ago, 240260280 said: range is 0.249mm to .0332mm (avg = 0.219mm) 1 Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545519 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchzcarguy Posted March 24, 2018 Share #11 Posted March 24, 2018 yeap... and 0.219 can never be the average of 0.249- 0.332 0.29 is more in the range.. 8 hours ago, 240260280 said: - FSM Gap range is 0.230mm to .0380mm (avg = 0.305mm) also the point on the wrong spot hey... Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545532 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchzcarguy Posted March 24, 2018 Share #12 Posted March 24, 2018 The oil ring has a play of 0.3 till 0.9 mm maybe he mixed up top with oilring ring gap... 1 Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/59753-cleaned-pistons-and-other-parts/#findComment-545533 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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