(Easy) Tech: Cleaning Out Flathead Heads

Hi All,

This is my first attempt at an actual (very low) Tech post. Hope it helps.

Please forgive the photography. My camera is old and dying. Time for a new one.

So I got a pair of used Edelbrock heads for my 50 Flathead. They are still true and can be reused, so I decided to clean them. Looking inside each, I saw that there was a lot of built up calcium and gunk from years of use. I posted a question to the HAMB a few weeks ago about how to possibly get this stuff out, and someone suggested using CLR, so I thought I'd give it a try. Here's how I went about it, the results were great.

The tools:
- 1 bottle of CLR per head.
- A funnel.
- Some tape.
- A Vice Grip.
- A Dremel with a fine, small wire wheel attachment used to keep things mixed.



After a couple tries, I came up with this method. First I had to figure out a way to keep water in the heads. There are a lot of water p***age holes in these things and trying to plug up each one is just a pain in the ***. I went with the path of least resistance and decided to plug up only the main water outlet and the thermostat holes. This meant the head had to be cleaned while upside down, which worked quite well.

I got a free sheet of s**** 3/8" plastic from Tap Plastics (they were very friendly), and cut a piece to a size that would cover the water outlet hole. I cut a couple holes in the plastic and used the stock water neck to hold it in place. Some gasket material was used to mate the plastic to the head.



I filled the head with one bottle of CLR, and used water to fill to the bottom of the exposed water holes. The Dremel was used as a mixer/agitator, and was held in place by the Vice Grip. The Vice Grip was held in place with tape. I used the lowest spin speed on the Dremel. Here's how it all looked in action, notice that the reaction of the CLR with the calcium created gas bubbles:



I did this for about 3 to 4 hours per head and they are now spotless inside. Due to my ****py camera, I can't show before and after photos, but the results are really good. People warned that the Aluminum may get eaten, but I saw no signs of this. I'm sure this method would work for stock heads too, remember the 'R' in CLR stands for Rust.

Hope it helps,

Mike

 

Not bad. You did rinse the heads out thoroughly afterwards, right? That stuff will eat aluminum eventually, even if you don't see it.

 

Cool stuff Mike.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Not bad. You did rinse the heads out thoroughly afterwards, right? That stuff will eat aluminum eventually, even if you don't see it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, very, very thoroughly. After dumping the initial stuff into a container, I used a hose to fill and empty about 8 times over.

Mike

 

[ QUOTE ]
Yep, very, very thoroughly. After dumping the initial stuff into a container, I used a hose to fill and empty about 8 times over.

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Prolly worth mixing up a hot water & baking soda solution & putting it in to soak for a few minutes...neutralize any of the acid left behind.

 

cool deal, I have 3/4 extra sets of EAB heads I need to clean up.

 

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Prolly worth mixing up a hot water & baking soda solution & putting it in to soak for a few minutes...neutralize any of the acid left behind.



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Very good suggestion.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Yes, I agree with Ernie, neutralize the acid. CLR is an acid, not sure which type, but any acid should be neutralized, and baking soda is cheap and effective.

 

Great post Mike! Many thanks! It's now in my "fav" file! Regards, Dave.