How To Clean Cast Iron Cylinder Heads

Remove old head gasket material from bottom of head.

How to clean cast iron cylinder heads. You may want to do the following step outdoors or in a room with a drain. Removing rust from cast iron heads and blocks usually requires a mild acid such as citric acid or phosphoric acid. The heads shown in this story are cast iron heads off of restoration projects not a race car but we used these to show just how bad heads can be corroded if this cleaning process is not. Put the cylinder head in a large tub or container so that you can work on it. After you scrub your cylinder heads fill the second tub up with warm water.

However when a water based cleaning process is used some type of corrosion inhibitor should always be added to the solution to prevent rust from reappearing after the parts have been cleaned. 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. Th ey will need to be cleaned using an abrasive blaster wire wheel brushes or taken to a shop to be hot tanked. Fill the second tub with warm water. 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.

After you begin to feel comfortable using your die grinder and abrasive rolls completely clean your good engine heads. 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. Cleaning the cylinder heads can be a dirty process and can be quite time consuming. Ultrasonic cleaning can also dislodge iron oxide from the surface of castings. If you are working on aluminum heads remember that aluminum will abrade much faster than cast iron.