Carbon build up
 

Team,

Doing a head swap... figured I clean the piston heads free of carbon. what a PITA!

I ve been working away at 1 piston for like 2 weeks (busy weeks only get to work on the car on fridays) and I spent like 5 hours in total on it.. its getting real clean but taking tooooo long and thats only the 1st one..

Is it absolutely necessary to clean this build up? there is no straight up answer people say yes people say no..

this is my first build and I want the car running by the end of the month / march for spring

What I am using and trying on the head is brake cleaner / carb cleaner / wd40 with a tooth brush?

what should i do this process is really pissing me off lol

Thanks

Maybe a brass brush will work? and wont harm the aluminum as well??

Why bother? Its going to look like that in a few 100 miles............................ best to clean everything up enough to reassemble then run a good carbon cleaner every 3k miles.

I said the same but I keep reading that it affects the compression etc

Clean it up good enough to reassemble it and run a good carbon cleaner through it. Anything else is a complete waste of time. Carbon builds up quickly in these engines because of the oil usage and pcv system. Why do you think cleaning is going to stop from building right back up? ALL engines should be decarboned every 3k miles. Hell I can clean mine out good and within a few 100 miles its corboned up again. Its the nature of internal combustion engines. OR install water injection system and enjoy carbon free operation IF you know how to apply and maintain the water injection properly.

As others have mentioned, you're not hurting anything by not cleaning it. It will build back up in no time once it's up and running. However, acetone and a mild abrasive pad like a scothbrite has worked best for me. I've used Roloc finger discs in the past, but they make a mess with debris. I prefer to keep the contamination debris in the rings to a minimum if I can.

No need to clean them. Soak them with a little WD-40, and wipe them off with a rag. Call it good. They'll be dirty in no time.

Another thing I should mention. I think in another thread you were saying you didn't want to do a cam at this time. If you're still sticking to that game plan, at least upgrade your springs right now. It will give you peace of mind, and when it comes time for you to put a cam in, it will be one less thing to worry about. It's much easier to put new springs on right now, than when they're on the car. Just something to think about.