[ChevJerico]

I have a used block I'm ringing and bearing and was planning on dunking in diluted super clean for a couple days. The directions say no prolonged contact with aluminum. It's not gonna hurt the cam bearings....will it?

[twotone64]

It is somewhat caustic to aluminum and will eat it away.

[ChevJerico]

Cam bearings have any aluminum in them?

[engineguy]

Aftermarket bearings from Dura-Bond, Clevite, Federal-Mogul, etc. won't have any aluminum in them. BUT if the stuff is not good for aluminum, I would guess that it is not good to have it in contact with copper, babbitt, etc. Personally, I would use Mineral Spirits. Spray it on liberally, let it soak for a couple of days, then hose off and clean all the passages, etc. with compressed air. If the block needs to be cleaned more thoroughly than that, then the cam bearings will need to be removed and sent to a machine shop for hot tank or spray cabinet cleaning.

Do any shops still use hot tanks, or have the enviornmentalists done away with these things? Seems like all the shops around here use spray cabinets - which probably do a better job anyway

[BillK]

Originally Posted by engineguy

Do any shops still use hot tanks, or have the enviornmentalists done away with these things? Seems like all the shops around here use spray cabinets - which probably do a better job anyway

We got rid of ours 20 years ago and bought a "bake and blast" system. We have a spray washer for aluminum and cleaning slightly dirty cast iron along with general cleaning.

[ChevJerico]

Okay thanks! I might just put new cam bearings in it then.

Originally Posted by engineguy

Aftermarket bearings from Dura-Bond, Clevite, Federal-Mogul, etc. won't have any aluminum in them. BUT if the stuff is not good for aluminum, I would guess that it is not good to have it in contact with copper, babbitt, etc. Personally, I would use Mineral Spirits. Spray it on liberally, let it soak for a couple of days, then hose off and clean all the passages, etc. with compressed air. If the block needs to be cleaned more thoroughly than that, then the cam bearings will need to be removed and sent to a machine shop for hot tank or spray cabinet cleaning.

Do any shops still use hot tanks, or have the enviornmentalists done away with these things? Seems like all the shops around here use spray cabinets - which probably do a better job anyway