I’ve been distracted from my 39 Cadillac and Packard Customs for good reason. I’m doing several 53 Eldorados and just managed to disassemble the numbers matching engine and transmission considering it was in a carby fire years ago and surprisingly everything looks very good inside so far. Crank is fantastic. Bores don’t look bad. Very slight edge on top of bore. Haven’t yet measured it up. It’s still a greasy mess but now a bare block and welsh plugs are intact. So my old school Buick and Cadillac workshop neighbour suggests to fill the water jackets with a 40% hydrochloric mix to clean out residual gunk prior to giving it to engine rebuilder who has a molasses tank. What does the “HAMB think tank” suggest. It’s a matching numbers 53 Eldorado (one off) block so I’m wanting to do everything right. Also the next question will be quality Pistons and components…. Feel free to discuss. Soon as this one is underway I have another 53 Eldorado engine ready to pull down.
I wouldn't put hydrochloric into an iron engine block. There is a strong risk of -hydrogen embrittlement- (look it up) when ferrous (iron) based metals are immersed in hydrochloric acid baths. Won't go into a chemistry lesson here, but the only way to get that hydrogen back out is by baking the parts at high temperatures, which must be performed in a matter of hours or the hydrogen will become permanently bound in place. Embrittlement will make iron more susceptible to fracturing. Phosphoric acid seems to be a much better choice. Lets see what the professionals here have to say.
If I was wanting to clean out the block, I would use vinegar in the water jackets to get rid of the rust/gunk buildup..
Interesting project, I have a 53 Coupe Deville, Mine was a stalled project when I acquired it. the Engine had already been rebuilt. also numbers matching low miles. I'll follow your progress.
If it's going into a molasses soak at a later date, I would just pressure wash the hell out of it now. Use oven cleaner to degrease the outside, use a wire to poke around in the water jackets, then pressure wash inside (including water jackets) and out. The molasses will take care of the rest. Pressure wash the water jackets real well after the molasses.
I would pull out all the core plugs and dig out all the rust and scale with screwdrivers, stiff wire, and anything else I could bend into shape. This will knock all the rust and crap loose between cylinders and the bottom of the water jackets, which tend to fill up between the cylinders. Then flush with a pressure washer and compressed air. Then send it to the molasses bath.
Let the machinist do his thing Rust on the inside? If it bothers you, dump some clr in it, let us sit a while and flush with a hose pipe. The soak mettionrd by the machinist will do the same thing. build it Enjoy
Before the molasses it needs to spend some time in a hot tank. The molasses will not touch the grease but eventually gets the rust. You can dip the block in citric acid to do the same job a bit faster. As tomcatt11 says, Definitely not Hydrochloric at any percentage.
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