1977 454 block.
Ex marine. One overbore to .030 over. 4 bolt, no stamping above the T cover. Second try at a block, this one looks very good. Just back from a DIY cleaning. Removed all the pipe plugs (what a bitch!) The cooling passages had what appeared to be heavy tan coloured calcium build up, a lot at the bottoms, probably from open loop freshwater running. Blocked off the water pump mounts, tipped the engine so the deck was up, parallel and level, filled the passages full with a industrial scale remover called Lime A Way (mild acid, think CLR). Let sit for 6 hours (foam was coming out the deck openings from the reaction within 1 hour, stopped at 4) all the scale is gone. Drained, then did the other bank. Popped the rear freeze plugs, then submerged it for 5 hours in a 50 degree C, 6% Caustic bath (remember the old hot tank style?). The old paint, hard grease and dirt simply fell away. Soap and water/Tentrex brush scrubbing (Moroso 5192 brush kit) of all the passages after, then a 3000 psi hot powerwash of everything and all the passages. Immediate WD40 soak to push out the water, then a heating for 1 hour @ 80c to dry, along with a blow out with high pressure Nitrogen (could have used air, but I have 80psi N2 on hand!) of all the threads and details. Came out spotless!
Next we'll NDT and sonic, then if good (no cracks and thick enough, torque plate bore and hone to .060 + - exact to fit the piston. Mock up then figure how much deck to be removed (to a minimum). this block looks good, the lifter bores are pretty intact as well.
1977 454 block.
Ex marine. One overbore to .030 over. 4 bolt, no stamping above the T cover. Second try at a block, this one looks very good. Just back from a DIY cleaning. Removed all the pipe plugs (what a bitch!) The cooling passages had what appeared to be heavy tan coloured calcium build up, a lot at the bottoms, probably from open loop freshwater running. Blocked off the water pump mounts, tipped the engine so the deck was up, parallel and level, filled the passages full with a industrial scale remover called Lime A Way (mild acid, think CLR). Let sit for 6 hours (foam was coming out the deck openings from the reaction within 1 hour, stopped at 4) all the scale is gone. Drained, then did the other bank. Popped the rear freeze plugs, then submerged it for 5 hours in a 50 degree C, 6% Caustic bath (remember the old hot tank style?). The old paint, hard grease and dirt simply fell away. Soap and water/Tentrex brush scrubbing (Moroso 5192 brush kit) of all the passages after, then a 3000 psi hot powerwash of everything and all the passages. Immediate WD40 soak to push out the water, then a heating for 1 hour @ 80c to dry, along with a blow out with high pressure Nitrogen (could have used air, but I have 80psi N2 on hand!) of all the threads and details. Came out spotless!
Next we'll NDT and sonic, then if good (no cracks and thick enough, torque plate bore and hone to .060 + - exact to fit the piston. Mock up then figure how much deck to be removed (to a minimum). this block looks good, the lifter bores are pretty intact as well.