4 replies to this topic

[grahama]

Hi all,

I have quite a rusty water jacket and channels on my block and want to de rust it so water flow is better when I rebuild. Has anyone done this before and can you tell me the best way to do it pls??



Not the best pic but you get the idea of rust in channels !

Graham

[Dan]

I left a block standing on end in a big bucket of water based rust converter for a couple of weeks once. Seemed to work quite well. Do it before machining in case the converter affects the bores in any way. I think I greased all the bearing webs and the cam bearing bores and the dizzy drive bearings and all the machined external surfaces that wouldn't see the machine again afterwards, with something really thick to protect them. Make sure the grease won't react with the rust converter though. And plug the oil ways and knock out the core plugs and water drain obviously. When it came back from the cleaner it was lovely inside, and the chemicals washed out a load of original left over casting sand too.

[grahama]

What was it you used Dan?? was it a complete diy job??

[dklawson]

I have done similar to what Dan did except the bottom of the engine was mainly assembled. (Not a Mini by the way). I removed and capped the aluminum items touching the water jacket and filled the cooling jacket with phosphoric acid. I kept the level low enough that the fluid would not splash into the bores. You need to let it soak for days then flush thoroughly to get the rust and sediment out. It was better but this is still not as good as having a block hot-tanked during rebuilding.

[Dan]

It was a proper product but I have no idea what it was called. It was 10 years ago!