Well Im rebuilding a 360 magnum for one of my customers, and the block Im using for him is my dad old van engine. It has 250K+ miles on it, but I knew it was well taken care of. Anyways, Im cleaning pistons now, and Im getting all the carbon buildup behind the rings off and it sucks. The magnum rings are very thin, and my ring groove cleaner wont work on the top 2 grooves. Im using a broken ring and chisling away. They have been soaking for days, but still comes off like it part of the piston. Anyone know of a chemical that eats the carbon off pistons??



Also are the magnum 360's and the LA 360 balenced the same. I need a flywheel for a 360, and dont have one for a magnum.

Kasey

brake cleaner will remove that krap. ps, no chiseling! the rings have to seal against the sides of the ring grooves, and the fit and finish must be preserved. save the seal!

I know, Im not really chisling, Im being patient, but my wore out fingers are taking a beating, but thanks for the heads up though.

Are you sure the pistons are worth saving? ...check the ring groove clearance to be sure.

I hear that that high-dollar one-gallon-can of carb-cleaner works great.

spray or soak in brake cleaner, and a toofbrush work great! in the olden days we had carb cleaner that would make los pistones look brand new, but i'm afraid those days are gone. i got the latest, greatest carb cleaner, and it didn't work worth didly.

I was just going to ask if that stuff would work.

I used that stuff before, the good stuff, it damn near cut through the aluminum base plate, I left it in too long.

Have you tried soaking them overnight in soapy water? That really softens the carbon up to almost like putty. I'm sure you check the block for taper befroe starting to make sure that motor will seal with the old pistons and a news set of rings, right? 250,000 miles without a bore job is a really good motor

It honestly is in GREAT shape, Its got some taper, but nothing that wont seal. The thing still had a good cross hatch in it. Almost nothing for a ring lip. I could barely feel anything, and the pistons came out with even resistance all the way out, never got cought at all. Its a budjet build, and my customer will barely put any miles, or hours on it, it going in his combine.

I forgot to mention its a 98 magnum 360 that was fuel injected.

I scraped the carbon off the tops of mine with a broken piston ring and then threw the rod/piston combo in the dishwasher when the wife was at work. Came out lookin' like new!

SHHHHHH!

We just did a freshen up a few months back on a local bracket racers motor and good ol fashoned laquor thinner works awesome then attack the tops only w/a soft wire wheel and your good to go.

cheap table top ultrasonic cleaner with a little simple green works good, unfortunately you can only fit two at a time. I use mine for everything, car parts, nuts & bolts, jewelry, printer heads, etc. When done throw the SS tank in the dishwasher and clean as new.

Its got 250,000 miles, "some taper and a lip you can barely feel"...it's wore out brother. Save your time cleaning those pistons, toss them in the trash, buy some new ones and bore the block.

Monte

Its really not wore out, I know a shot block when I see one. Its gonna be fine for what its gonna do. The customer just wants it for a few thrashers bees, and that it, so It might get 10 hr on it a year. then it going to be in his shop with all his other restored farm equipment.

I have rebuilt was worse engines and had no problems. I just wanted a faster way to clean pistons.

This guy doesnt have a very deep pocketbook.

Kasey

Combine or not, you are going to have to hone the step and the taper out for it to seal. How big will it be then?

Monte

Again, its gonna be fine, Its not perfect, the customer knows that hes fine with it.

A easy way to see the taper is to put a used ring in the cylinder up at the top square it up, measure the gap, then push it to the bottom of the bore and remeasure. Im betting .008+

But should probably last 100K anyways, might start using oil pretty fast though

LOTS of bore taper will make the rings wear-out the ring grooves in the pistons. And with lots of clearance there .... the rings will never seal correctly or even in some cases -- seat.

You guys are killing me!!

If it doesnt seat, Ill just dump some AjAx down its throught!! LOL, just kidding.