Thread: Block prep question

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What started out as a minor engine mod/clean up is becoming major. Since we had a leak on the rear oil pan seal and wanted to replace heads and cam, we (my son and me) removed the 305 from our 86 iroc camaro. I have the heads off and am looking at the pistons. There is some residue/carbon build up at the top of each cylinder wall. How do I remove this build up safely? I was not thinking of removing all the pistons, etc.

You can safely clean it with a piece of scotchbrite pad and spary carb cleaner,or brake clean,or laquer thinner,gasoline,kerosenne etc.etc.
That being said I see over and over guy's making the big mistake that you are fixing to make, a high milage engine that now has the compression bumped up with fresh heads and a lumpy cam, a sure invitation to ring blow by and oil burning. For $337 bucks you can get a complete quality engine kit from these guy's http://www.rpmmachine.com/index.html, spend another 400 to 500 bucks at a local reputable machine shop. Then you and the kid can spend a few nights or weekends in the garage assembling a fresh engine. Theres hundreds of how to books and videos out there on small block chevys so do some homework,have some fun building it,and I gaurantee you'll be a lot happier.

To that I say Amen!!

Yeah what they said in spades...Dennis

I've always hated valve work, so getting someone else to do the heads who knows what they are doing has always appealed to me. But for the lower end, I'm with these guys, it's not that much to pull the engine and get everything nice and new, a machine shop can bore the block even for you and put the new cam in, sounds like you might already have new heads, so your half way there already. If I could do it at 16 with a 302, I'm sure you guys could do it with no trouble, a good book for reference and step by step instructions with torque specs, assembly etc.. should make it fairly straight foward as others have said. All this being said, my current rebuild came as a longblock from a place called S and S engines everything to my specs, parts etc. for cheaper than I could piece it out locally, so I went with them, plus they had a 7 year/70k warranty. Whatever you do, it should be a fun project for you and your son!

Ditto to all above,just go through the thing it will be a learning experience for the youngster and time well spent together.......

Thanks for your replies. I knew what I should do, but needed that little "reminder"-thanks. The block is at a local shop being cleaned up; hot-tank, new crank & rod bearings, etc. Nick

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, in the name of all that is sane, don't spend any more money on that small-bore 305. Find a 5700 Vortec 350 from a '96 to '98 Chevy truck. I just saw two of them on craigslist here in Phoenix, one for $150, the other for $200, both long blocks. I've been helping a fellow CHR rodder on PM and sent him over to buy one of them instead of farting around with the remains of an old flat tappet circle track motor he aquired somewhere.

Look for a sawtooth design on the front of the heads. This will tell you that further investigation is warranted. These heads (L31 Vortec) came in two different casting numbers. 12558062 is one of them (take off the valve cover and look), the other is 10239906. The only difference is that the 906 has (in some cases) separate hard exhaust seats pressed in for extreme duty service and may require a little work with a rotary grinder and burr to fair-in the sharp edges.

What you will get for $200 is a roller tappet camshaft block that is one-piece rear seal and the best production heads that Chevrolet ever produced. It is WAAAAAAAAY easy to get 400 hp and 450 ft/lbs of torque out of these motors and still operate as a mild mannered reporter on cheapo pump gas.