Head & bore clean-up question

Howdy, I'v got the head & bore off my 78 kz 650 sr. What is the best stuff for outer clean-up, to get old paint, oil, & all the other road crud off with the least amount of effort? I also need to measure the bores & I don,t have an inside micrometer, what else could I use to measure it with & still be accurate with the measurements? What works best for removing carbon deposits from valves,:huh: & do I need to remove the valves from the head to do it? What is the best stuff to use to get old gaskets off with-out having to scrape & scrape? Thanks in advance for any help.

a bore gauge is the best way to measure cylinders but since you dont have one of those you canget fairly close with long feeler gauges if your careful make sure the cylinder is clean as well as the piston and dont force the piston you are looking for a slight tug also you can use telescoping gauges and an outside micrometer you can pick them up cheap at places like harbour freight another option you have is to take it to a smaller qualified bike shop that you trust and most times the guy's are pretty good about checking cylinders out especially if you buy some parts from them once in a while . remember support your local bike shop. also make sure you mark which piston goes with which cylinder one other thing take your manual along for cylinder specs as you are dealing with a 30 year old motorcycle and the guy's at the shop may not be familer with you bike.

Thanks timebomb for the info. I remember somthing about oven cleaner for cleaning but can't remember what for! maybe for carbon removal or grease?

i'd be really careful with that it will eat not only the grease but it also likes the taste of alluminum if your gonna try it put it on spot on the back of the cylinder and let it set for about ten minuetes then wash it off really good and see what it does better to be safe than sorry.

one other thing you asked about was how to clean the valves use a wire wheel on a bench grinder that works the best and as far as the gaskets go use gasket remover i prefer the stuff crc makes you should be able to get that from any auto parts place and just take your time with it don't be tempted to use any abrasives on it like 3m pads they are to aggressive for the alluminium just take your time spray it on let set for 10-15 min. then us a gasketscraper and take it off in layers. remember the old saying always time to do it right never time to do it over.

Okay,maybe that was for carbon deposit removal on the valves, they're steel right. Thanks

yes if they are stock they will be steel i like to use crc spray carb cleaner sprayed in to the combustion chamber and down in the ports to clean the carbon the really stubborn stuff get a small wire brush mounted in a drill and it will clean the heavy stuff right out.

Thank TB, good suggestions on wire brush for drill & port cleaning. AnyOne know what to use to kleen the outsides of the head, the bores & fins(grease,tar,road grime & old heat treated paint). Thanks for all your sage advice guys, & this is still the best Z site on the web. T.

TODDSTER wrote:

Thank TB, good suggestions on wire brush for drill & port cleaning. AnyOne know what to use to kleen the outsides of the head, the bores & fins(grease,tar,road grime & old heat treated paint). Thanks for all your sage advice guys, & this is still the best Z site on the web. T.

I used the spray on engine cleaner which is mostly kerosene and a plastic brush. I also used carb cleaner spray which is acetone.

The shop that did my head hot tanked it and it really came out clean then.... but that is really nasty chemical stuff.

timebomb33 wrote:

remember the old saying always time to do it right never time to do it over.

Actually, most places the saying is the reverse of that: never enough time to do it right, always enough time to do it over. The crap hole I worked at for 18 years was a perfect example: when it came to making a schedule and allocating resources, they would never allow us enough time for a realistic development schedule... but when it all went to hell and burned down, they always found time to redesign everything which ended up taking 3X as long as if they had just listened to us in the first place.

Bountyhunter, What is hot tanked & is it expensive. Does very many shops offer this or is it something ya do at home or what. can ya do the bores also? Well gotta go SUPER BOWL is about to start. Go STEELERS!!!! Later

TODDSTER wrote:

Bountyhunter, What is hot tanked & is it expensive. Does very many shops offer this or is it something ya do at home or what. can ya do the bores also? Well gotta go SUPER BOWL is about to start. Go STEELERS!!!! Later

Most shops have a hot tank and drop the head or cylinder into it before they start working on it, they don't charge for it. It's a tank of heated solvent that will strip hard carbon and grease off anything, also eats rubber and plastic.