How To Clean Cast Iron Cylinder Heads

You may want to do the following step outdoors or in a room with a drain.

How to clean cast iron cylinder heads. Another cleaning alternative is to use a soft blast media such as plastic beads walnut shells or baking soda to clean both cast iron and aluminum castings. Removing rust from cast iron heads and blocks usually requires a mild acid such as citric acid or phosphoric acid. Baking soda has proved to be an effective cleaning media on cast iron and aluminum and can be used dry or mixed with water to create a cleaning slurry. If you are working on aluminum heads remember that aluminum will abrade much faster than cast iron. After you scrub your cylinder heads fill the second tub up with warm water.

Fill the second tub with warm water. It will start to rust right away. After you begin to feel comfortable using your die grinder and abrasive rolls completely clean your good engine heads. Th ey will need to be cleaned using an abrasive blaster wire wheel brushes or taken to a shop to be hot tanked. Make sure the tub is tall enough to allow the cylinder head to be completely submerged in water then fill it with enough water to completely cover the head.

Put your gloves on to protect your hands from the chemicals used to clean the cylinder heads. Put the cylinder head in a large tub or container so that you can work on it. Remove old head gasket material from bottom of head. Ultrasonic cleaning can also dislodge iron oxide from the surface of castings. I find if you apply it with q tips and rub the area with scotch bright pads or steel wool scratches and reapply when it stops bubbling and reapeat till gone dont leave the cylinder alone.