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Great stuff for cleaning pistons

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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 09:45 PM
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Default Great stuff for cleaning pistons

I went and got a spray can of Permatex Gasket Cleaner to help ease the cleaning of the block deck surface. When I was wiping everything off, I noticed all the burnt oil on the pistons just wiped off like grease. This stuff just totally dissolves the carbon into a easy to wipe off goo.

Here is before and after pics. No scraper or brush was used on the pistons. Just a paper towel.
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 10:02 PM
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Well done! Looks nice and clean now. Looks like you used a very liberal amount of gasket maker for sealing the knock sensors
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 10:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Cobra4B
Well done! Looks nice and clean now. Looks like you used a very liberal amount of gasket maker for sealing the knock sensors

I read about others having water get in there and screwing up there Knock sensors. So I didn't want to take a chance.
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 10:12 PM
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Cleaning all that up was not fun.

Thanks for the tip, now that mine's all back together, I hope I won't need to do that again anytime soon!

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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 10:20 PM
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Originally Posted by RED99
I read about others having water get in there and screwing up there Knock sensors. So I didn't want to take a chance.
I sealed mine too... can hose off th motor now w/o worry.
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 10:50 PM
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Wow! Looks great!
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Old Apr 23, 2007 | 11:17 PM
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Looks Great! Big difference!
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Old Apr 24, 2007 | 08:17 AM
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Thanks for the post, that's good info to know.
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Old Apr 24, 2007 | 08:42 AM
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Awesome. Good to know! Thanks for sharing. I'll have to make a mental note of that.

Shahram
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Old Apr 24, 2007 | 09:00 AM
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Another thing that works great (with or without the heads on the car) is Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner.

After hearing praises about it from so many people back in the day, I decided to try it out on a car of mine that had a seeping headgasket before I yanked the head off. The car had 158K on it, but after the MCCC, when I yanked the head, the pistons looked like your "after" pictures.

It also works great with the heads off if you soak them overnight.

The nice thing about using it while the car is running (before tear-down) is that it hits the backs of the valves where you typically get carbon buildup as well. You can clean them with it once their off (fill the ports) but I'm always leery of what it will do to valve seals if they're just sitting in it.
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Old Apr 24, 2007 | 09:58 AM
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I found that permatex stuff a few years ago when I rebuilt a SBC and I agree 100% that it works mint for dissolving carbon and stuff. However I'm sure that is very caustic so make sure not to get it on your hands or in your eyes!
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Old Apr 24, 2007 | 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Billdog350
I found that permatex stuff a few years ago when I rebuilt a SBC and I agree 100% that it works mint for dissolving carbon and stuff. However I'm sure that is very caustic so make sure not to get it on your hands or in your eyes!
I agree.. I would also put a nice film of oil on the walls of each cycl. and change the oil after..
-=Rick
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