internal engine sludge

blew a head gasket in my catalina on my way in to work yesterday and pulled the heads off today. got the vally pan off and was disgusted by the amount of sludge that has built up over the years in this motor. i really don't want to pull the whole motor out and have good luck getting the sludge off the heads. is there any harm in dropping the oil pan out and blasting the sludge out with some carb cleaner and compressed air? just wondering if anyone else has gone down this road...

 

We used diesel to clean it. Didn't even drop the pan just removed the plug.

 

i am paranoid not to drop the pan though. there are some pretty large chunks lurking in there. the heads came clean after letting them soak in the solvent tank all day. i would figure any oil based solvent would be ok.

 

Well dropping the pan wont hurt anything, so if you sleep better, then by all means do it.

 

You got the heads off,what is so hard about dropping the pan? .
Change the oil pump while you are there and have a look at number 1 big end to see if it's worn too much. Don't expect a 40 year old engine to look like last years toyota inside. I use ATF in the oil. About 200 miles before an oil change i add 250mls to the oil and when i change it ,it brings out a lot of **** you wont get by simply changing the oil. After two or three oil changes you will notice the engine runs quieter ( lifters will be working better etc ) and the oil stays cleaner longer because all those little nooks and crannys will be flushed clean of that black sludge.