deck surface prep. Head prep

cjmatt

cjmatt

Club Member
Im in the process of swapping the heads on my ls block. What is the best way to clean the deck surface and clean off all the old crap from the graphite headgaskets that were on there? I want to keep it as clean and smooth as possible, but the motor is practically new, so i dont wanna tear it down to get milled flat.

it will be seeing boost as well. so would it be beneficial to get the heads o-ringed? They are kinda dirty, so i was gonna have them hot tanked. ill probably have them mill them flat as well while im at it. Anyone got a shop recommendation?
 
we use the fine grit roloc scotch brite pads at work, i forget what grit.. They are a step softer then the red/brown
 
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how much boost ?

Just run the factory MLS gaskets and stud kit. Trust me those gaskets are really really good.

Make sure you heads are compatiable with the MLS gaskets. If you snap a picture I can tell you if they are.

I use a razor blade. Also if your careful and mask off all oil passages you can use a very very very fine grit honing stone to LAP the deck surface and be very very gentle. the idea is not to polish the deck. Simply to make sure it is clean.

You can also buy a Flat Diamond hand lapper.Same thing here. Not trying to polish the deck surface. Just make sure it's clean.

Whatever you do, don't under any circumstances Use a grinder with a scoth bright pad. You'll put divets in the deck surface. They make a special tool that plastic with finger and they are yellow. But they still fuck up the deck surface. Hand clean only.

cjmatt said:
Im in the process of swapping the heads on my ls block. What is the best way to clean the deck surface and clean off all the old crap from the graphite headgaskets that were on there? I want to keep it as clean and smooth as possible, but the motor is practically new, so i dont wanna tear it down to get milled flat.

it will be seeing boost as well. so would it be beneficial to get the heads o-ringed? They are kinda dirty, so i was gonna have them hot tanked. ill probably have them mill them flat as well while im at it. Anyone got a shop recommendation?
Click to expand...
 
Sean said:
how much boost ?

Just run the factory MLS gaskets and stud kit. Trust me those gaskets are really really good.

Make sure you heads are compatiable with the MLS gaskets. If you snap a picture I can tell you if they are.

I use a razor blade. Also if your careful and mask off all oil passages you can use a very very very fine grit honing stone to LAP the deck surface and be very very gentle. the idea is not to polish the deck. Simply to make sure it is clean.

You can also buy a Flat Diamond hand lapper.Same thing here. Not trying to polish the deck surface. Just make sure it's clean.

Whatever you do, don't under any circumstances Use a grinder with a scoth bright pad. You'll put divets in the deck surface. They make a special tool that plastic with finger and they are yellow. But they still fuck up the deck surface. Hand clean only.
Click to expand...
planning on about 15psi. Actual boost will be determined by how much power it makes. im trying to keep the motor together, so if it makes adequate power at 10psdi, thats where it will stay. I will be using the LS9 7 layer MLS gaskets. the heads are off of a 6.0 LQ4. it came with MLS gaskets from the factory. I will have the heads machined flat at a machine shop. So far to clean them, ive used a razor blade, but it doesnt look that clean. its smooth and all though. Ill try to use the actual gasket remover crap
 
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cjmatt said:
planning on about 15psi. Actual boost will be determined by how much power it makes. im trying to keep the motor together, so if it makes adequate power at 10psdi, thats where it will stay. I will be using the LS9 7 layer MLS gaskets. the heads are off of a 6.0 LQ4. it came with MLS gaskets from the factory. I will have the heads machined flat at a machine shop. So far to clean them, ive used a razor blade, but it doesnt look that clean. its smooth and all though. Ill try to use the actual gasket remover crap
Click to expand...

Yeah hand cleaning only. If you want put a piece of 800-1000 grit emery cloth on a nice flat stone " or something thick and very flat" and gnetly rub the deck. You will never get the gasket stains out of the deck though without removing material. No worry it won't cuase any problems.
 
Sean said:
Yeah hand cleaning only. If you want put a piece of 800-1000 grit emery cloth on a nice flat stone " or something thick and very flat" and gnetly rub the deck. You will never get the gasket stains out of the deck though without removing material. No worry it won't cuase any problems.
Click to expand...
Any thoughts on spraying the gaskets with the copper to help fill any imperfections?
 
cjmatt said:
Any thoughts on spraying the gaskets with the copper to help fill any imperfections?
Click to expand...


ehhhhhh. I use hylomar if I am worried about water leaks. Just a light spritz. But copper spray works fine to.I also only spray the head and the block. You don't want copper getting into the spring plate in the gasket.
 
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