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Vatting a block (Caustic)

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Roothawg, Jan 8, 2011.

  1. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,522

    Roothawg
    Member

    I have a block that has been bored but not final honed. It is not clean enough for my liking. I was wondering if a caustic vat would wreck the cylinder walls of the fresh bore. It still has to be final honed. It was jet washed previously.

    Thanks

    Root
     
  2. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,522

    Roothawg
    Member

    Dang....3 pages down in an hour.
     
  3. Vern Christy
    Joined: Dec 28, 2009
    Posts: 44

    Vern Christy
    Member
    from Picton Ont

    Check out thread by Dolmetsch on his New FED Build. Don just useds his homebuilt caustic tank on his Poly Motor.
     
  4. The Shocker
    Joined: Dec 30, 2004
    Posts: 3,538

    The Shocker
    Member

    I wouldnt think it would hurt the finish on the cylinder walls if you dont keep it in the caustic soda too long. I etch aluminum in it at work and it doesnt even eat it too much for 3 or 4 minutes.We also use it to clean the aluminum build up off the steel dies and they soak for 12 hrs in it ...
     

  5. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,456

    noboD
    Member

    Roothawg, it won't hurt the bores but will eat cam bearings if they are still in.
     
  6. The vat won't hurt it. As stated, it will destroy alum. If the oil galley plugs haven't been removed, do that before vatting. There's no such thing as too clean at this stage.
     
  7. Ole don
    Joined: Dec 16, 2005
    Posts: 2,915

    Ole don
    Member

    The shop who does the machine work on my blocks always give it a short shot when the machine work is done. They blow it off and wipe it down right away when it comes out, and they deliver a clean block.
     
  8. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,933

    squirrel
    Member

    A normal caustic hot tank (for iron) won't hurt iron. It's the soft metals you have to worry about.

    Also after it's honed, you'll need to clean it very well to remove all the metal and abrasive particles. I consider this the responsibility of whoever assembles the engine to give it the final cleaning. I would never assemble a block without cleaning it myself first, no matter how nice it looks coming from the machine shop.
     
  9. I like to give em a dip in the hot tank for at least 48 hours then after all machine work is done I give em a spin in the Jet Washer for about 3 hours with brushing all of the holes and bores in between washing cycles. When I present the block to the customer I will have all of the plugs installed along with the cam bearings. The cylinders will be clean and lightly oiled to prevent rust and the block is wrapped in an engine bag ready for the builder to get to work >>>>.
     
  10. ems customer service
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 2,634

    ems customer service
    Member

    caustic is quick harms soft metals, i would pay to have this done not a home job,

    but as a option a least for home how about soaking the block in kersosine in a 55 gal drum for about a week, should work well and cheap. does not hurt the softer metals.

    now remembering a thread on the hamb a while back i made fun of the post as it sounded stupid but after awhile it made sense.

    soak it with kerosine and the hit it with a power washer after the wash. 3/1 oil the block to stop rusting, have a few small dia steel brushes for the oil galleys and done
     
  11. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,522

    Roothawg
    Member

    Well, the deal is, I got this block in a trade and it was rough bored but all the cam bearings, plugs etc were still in it. It was put in the jet washer and is somewhat clean, but not clean enough for me.

    I am knocking all the flahing off the outside and sort of polishing the visable areas.
    Now, I wanna put it back in a vat to get rid of any leftover junk. Then I'll have it honed and then I'll clean it thoroughly before I assemble it.
     
  12. FWilliams
    Joined: Apr 24, 2001
    Posts: 1,986

    FWilliams
    Member

    knock the plugs and bearings out of it and run it thru the tank

    Fred
     
  13. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,522

    Roothawg
    Member

    I knocked all of the cam bearings and soft plugs out this weekend. I have to look for a shop with a vat. The epa has made it so hard around here that most shops just have the roto-jet or whatever they call em.

    BTW Fred, I am building the 327 article that you did a few years back.
     
  14. FWilliams
    Joined: Apr 24, 2001
    Posts: 1,986

    FWilliams
    Member

    cool beans...

    we dont use the vats around here much anymore either, most everything is burn and blast.

    Fred
     

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