I am going to be starting the build of my 427 soon, and will be working on the shortblock this week hopefully. I would like to clean the block before installing the bottom end. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean it thouroughly? I would take it to get hot tanked but would rather not spend the money when I'm already short $. What I mainly want to do is clean the threads of all the holes to clear out any gunk or loctite, and then rinse out the oil galleys. I was thinking I can just use a hose and some wire brush hole scrubbers and maybe some sort of solvent to help. Then dry the cylinders right away and blow what what water I can using the air compressor, then set up a heater on the block to get the last bits of water. How does this sound? Anyone have suggestions on a good solvent to help clean the block? Thanks for your time!

 

Berryman's b12 works like a champ. Most solvents, well here in CA are all soap-based now... the machine shop I worked at used to have a real good solvent, can't remember what it was called, but they got rid of it, and went to soap-based pink crpa that never worked worth a crap, just turned everything white and slippery.

 

If you decide not to have it hot tanked, use some kind of solvent or Gunk to get all the initial grease off of the block. If you want to clean the outside of the block you can use a brass wire brush on a drill motor or die grinder to remove any caked on grease. Once it has been disassembled you can take a die grinder and remove any casting flash that might break off and get into the oil system and damage the bearings. Just be sure not to grind on any machined surfaces. After that you can take a scotch brite pad on a die grider to clean all the gasket surfaces. (I use a mini right angle die grinder).
After your machine work is done get a set of long oil gallery brushes to clean all oil gallery holes. Some regular Tide (powdered type, no bleach or other additives) will work to dip the brushes in. Make sure to clean all the oil galleries where the main and cam bearings are. You can also use carb cleaner just make sure you get it all out with a rag. After you have cleaned all threaded holes and oil galleries give the whole block a good wash. Afterwards make sure to blow out ALL the holes in the block with compressed air (VERY IMPORTANT). Assuming the block has already been honed you can wipe down the cylinder bores with WD-40 or motor oil with a lint free rag. I clean them until I cant see anymore dirt in the oil. I use the Childs and Albert Piston&Ring assembly
oil for this. If everything is clean, all your machine work is done, and all your
clearances have been checked you are ready to assemble.

This is basically how we did it when i worked at a machine shop, not necessarily in the same order though depending on the application and the work being done.

 

The block has been hot tanked before, so it's pretty darn clean already. There is just some grime for being in and out of the local engine shop for various things like balancing and what not. I do plan on taking a Dremel to the block before cleaning it to clean up the casting marks. I have already begun cleaning the hardware, main caps, and tools. Thanks!