I'm looking to see what others use to prep the block deck surface before head gasket and head assembly.

 

Depends what material. Iron or aluminum?

 

What do you recommend for each, the ways I do it seem to work well but I'd like to know what others do.

 

For iron, I iave a nice carbide scraper from Goodson that works really well for taking off anything from rust and corrosion to head gasket material.

For aluminum, the carbide scraper would leave gouges, so a regular auto parts store metal scraper usually works pretty well.

I'll finish both off with red scotchbrite and WD40 then clean it all up with paper towels and acetone.

 

Cool thanks for the info. I've used razor blades for the most part for a long time. If it's a steel block i'll sometimes use a light roloc disk, and if it's a stock regular everyday car. For things that require more precision ill use a razor blade and light sand paper and do it all by hand, no power tools. I like the scotchbrite idea.