I've got an 1100 block & gearbox assembled and very dirty from sitting around, also a 12g202 head and want to clean them up, preferably without disassembling them. what would be the best way to do it? cover the holes and pressure wash or maybe sandblast it? Just want to clean it up before it gets looked at. If i have to disassemble it i will.

Thanks, Matt.

Sand blasting is definitely out, sand will work through every gap it can find.

Wire wheel on a cordless drill can be very useful, as can paint stripper to loosen it up. You will still need to stuff rags in all the holes and tape over with masking tape to be safe..

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hmm. guess i'd ebtter get myself a good drill lol. been living on 12 volts for a while now, contemplating an air drill, are they any good, or is the fact its connected to an air line annoying?

Air drills use a lot of air, so you need to have a really good air compressor!
Some of the cheap 30 buck drills from bunnings will be good enough for wire brushing engine parts.

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Pete...
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1968 Deluxe 1275
1969 Deluxe 'Scruby' 998 Looking for a roof skin...

just about to do the same here to a 998. Strip the alternator, Manifolds, Dizzy and Starter motor off. Tape these ares off with masking tape.
Wire wheels will become your best friend. I use the Grinder and a twist lock wheel on the large areas first and getinto as many area's as I can. Once Finished thier I get the drill out and use the smaller wheels into the nocks and crannies. If you want to go further get some paint stripper and brush that on the area's which is hard to get to. Leave for a couple of days and it will go flakey and will be easy to scratch off with wet and dry or just sand paper.

Important thing to remember. Leave the spark plugs, Rocker Cover timing cover and clutch cover on. You dont want all the dust and crap getting to these areas.

Very Important.
WEAR PROTECTIVE EYE PROTECTION and sweep up afterwars. The Wire from the wheels realease them selves and a rappid pace

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Got a 17cfm compressor, should be up to the job of a drill, I'd prefer to do the head seperately as its not on atm and i don't have nuts for it. That shouldnt cause any problems if i cover the holes properly, or would it?

I don't think an air drill would be the best bet for wire brushing, they consume heaps of air, Even a 17cfm compressor will be going flat out if your using it for minutes on end. As said before, even a cheapy drill from bunnings would be a better bet.

Probably better if you could bolt the head on (as it saves trying to stop dirt getting in the bores etc) but probably ok if you stuff some rags down the bores to stop stray bits of wire.

Also give the red nylon "wire" wheels a go, work well with less picking wire out of your arms/clothes etc.

Andrew

Bolting the head down sounds like the thing to do. should i be looking for anything special or just some average run-of-the-mill nuts for now? what thread are they?

any nuts will do for this, as long as they are 3/8" UNF.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

if it's going to be rebuilt, just strip it... if it's been sitting around and getting grubby with the head off, then it'll be filthy inside anyway

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Just the weight of the head on the block over the studs would be ok.

I agree with Simon - if its going to be rebuilt then take it to an engine reco place and have them hot tank it. Not only removes the paint but cleans out all the water ways and the oil galleries as well.

It will destroy all the bearings though (including the cam bearings) but then its clean. The same for the head.

Mike