I'm gonna call this side good

 

here's a good pic of the carbon on the pistons......yuck!

 

pistons cleaned, whew, not one of my favorite things to do





anyone know why these pistons have those holes in them?

 

same thing pontiac used to do.....do you notice anything about them?

 

hmmm, they all go in the same direction...........

 

I think thats what they do it for.

 

correct. they are used to make sure the pistons are on the rod facing the right way.


at least thats what I have heard/been told over the years.

We had a motor for 65 GTO build and the engine builder put them on backwords

 

Other than being really pretty, what does cleaning the pistons do for you? Was there enough crap on there to affect compression or something? Or do you want the inside of the motor as clean as the outside?

 

Is this what you are using to clean the pistons? If so, where can I get one? I'm asking because I will be cleaning mine soon (finally got the engine out today ) and I'd like to use whatever you are using, as it seems to work very well.

 

No, not on the pistons, too aggressive IMO. I clean the pistons the old fashioned way........by hand I use a mix of lacquer thinner and a citrus cleaner (so I can stand the chemical smell longer). I vacuum the cylinders periodically and thoroughly upon completion of one piston, I positioned each piston at the top of its stroke so it moves down away from the work area in the cylinder as I gradually wipe everything down with WD40, when finished I then wipe the cylinder with straight lacquer thinner, finally I coat the parts with WD40 before I bag it up each night