I bought some vortec heads for the 400 a while ago, so I took the old 882's off and noticed a lot of Carbon on my pistons. I then covered the oil valley and took a brass wire scrub brush to the top of the pistons and cleaned them up.

Well, I got to thinking that it wasn't a good idea to do this. I wasn't planning on tearing up the bottom end. Now, I don't know If any of the carbon got into any of the small holes on top of the block. And some carbon definitely got squished into the ring area too.

Should I go ahead and tear it down, spray all the oil and water passages out, re lube it with assy lube and then put her back together? If so, would brake cleaner be fine to use?

What would you do?

Thanks for your time.

Unless you got crap all over the engine, I'd say flush it out with fuel oil (drain plug pulled), put the new heads on, button it up, fill with oil, run, change oil and it'll be OK.

How much is a “lot”? How many miles did the engine have? Were the plugs fouled? There shouldn’t have been “that” much unless you were burning oil to begin with. Does the engine have a lot of miles on it? Was the lifter galley gunked up? What end result are you looking for. If you had any chunks fall into the lifter valley and make it’s way to the bottom, I would at least drop the pan because that junk can block the pick up screen on the oil pump. If some of it went into the water jacket through the boltholes, you might try flushing the block after buttoning it up. You want to try and avoid running it through the radiator and clogging it up, then again if it has been some time since a flush, the block and radiator is probably already full of crap. As far as the rings, you don’t want that stuff getting in the ring lands and causing them to hang up or get stuck. You can wash down the cylinders with carb cleaner, brake clean or what ever just don’t start the engine until you change the oil. I would try to find out why you might have had so much build up if it actually was a “LOT”, could be sign of a much bigger problem. If it is a high miler and you only got very marginal amounts in the combustion chamber, then I would just take an air hose to it and put it back together.

A lot to me is that the top was completely covered with roughly about 1/16 maybe a touch more. The guy I bought it from wasn't sure how many miles were on it and I put about 100 miles on it.

She did have some pre ignition problems when I started driving it and the valve seals were bad, so It also had some burnt up oil on the pistons. Now that I think about it, it was probably more burnt up oil rather than carbon. The lifter galley was not gunked up....clean as a whislte. The plugs were kindof gunked up, but they weren't fouled yet.

I guess I'll just flush the rings with brake cleaner and put some MMO in the bores and flush the rest with oil and put it back together. Thanks!!

Use a shop vac and vacuum the hell out of the edge of the gap betweenthe piston and bore. Any crud and crap that get's wedged in there is going to score the bore. It sounds like you are solving one oil consumption problem with the head change,, now just don't go creating a larger problem with trash between the piston and the bore. VACUUM, do NOT try to use compressed air or wash it out with anything unless you can turn the motor upside down (slightly harder to do when the motor is still in the car:) )

You can bet there's some in the top ring area, chances are there's some that won't come out. If it doesn't, it'll score the bores and you'll burn oil. If there's not a wear ridge around the top of the bores, I'd pull the pistons, wash 'em really good and run a dingle-berry hone thru the bores. I'd spring for a new set of cheap rings so you'll end up with fresh ring seal. It'll be a lot cheaper to do it now than down the road when the dirt you left in the engine causes problems. Couldn't hurt to use a new set of bearings when you put 'er back together - you'll have a fresh shortblock with fresh heads - tough to beat! If you have a big ridge at the top of the bores, just clean it as best you can, it'll need an overhaul before too long anyway.

Sounds as if you had a “lot” more than what I had envisioned, as Marv said, you could possibly create more of a problem by blowing it out. However I doubt you will be able to get it all out whether you vacuum it out or blow it out. If you are serious about this motor, you are about half way there to just pulling it and going through it. This will be the only real way of knowing if you get all the crud out. It sounds as if they changed the oil at least semi often so that is a good thing! While working at the dealership I saw some pretty gunked up motors. I once saw one that was so caked up that it looked as if it still had the valve covers on once they were removed.

Ok guys, I am definately serious about this engine. I barely have enough money to build it up the first time, let alone a second time if it get messed up by the junk I could possibly leave in it. Looks like I have my weekend planned :)......Better safe than sorry. Thanks guys.