should I worry about carbon buildup

P

Poager

Junior Member
So, after getting my '30 running and having it overheat quickly, I have rodded and flushed the radiator. I took the head off to clean the water jackets.

Now i'm wondering if I should be worried about the carbon on the valves and pistons. The car ran great when I had it running. The overheating was my only reason for taking it apart.

If I just put it back together and drive the hell out of it, will I have anything to worry about?

Thanks all,
-Shawn

Sorry the pic is not great:
 

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I would be the last person to suggest you " drive the hell " out of any 85 year old car. If you do, this won't be the last time it gets torn apart! Wayne
 
Poager said:
So, after getting my '30 running and having it overheat quickly, I have rodded and flushed the radiator. I took the head off to clean the water jackets.

Now i'm wondering if I should be worried about the carbon on the valves and pistons. The car ran great when I had it running. The overheating was my only reason for taking it apart.

If I just put it back together and drive the hell out of it, will I have anything to worry about?

Thanks all,
-Shawn

Sorry the pic is not great:
Click to expand...

Hey Shawn,
All the hard work is done (taking head off). So, just take a tool and gently shave the carbon all loose and vacuum it away as scraped off ! A sharp 'putty' knife will get most off, then use a light abrasive pad to finish cleaning all gasket surfaces. Install with coppercoat on both sides of gasket and you will be good to go. OR, don't worry about the dirt/carbon....EXCEPT that it doesn't get under your head gasket when install.
MMO use will help remove carbon also, as will a number of useful products when used properly.

BTW...all your good work of loosening scale/rust from within block will go for naught, if this stuff makes its way to the radiator ..plugging it up. Take measures to prevent this.
 
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I'll give that a go. I was just most worried about loosening debris or getting dust/dirt in the cylinders. I will give the MMO a shot as well.
 
I always have a vacuum cleaner running while I scrape gasket surfaces so the junk doesn't fall into the coolant chamber.

Now would also be a good time to stick a long thin blow gun down each coolant hole and blow the crud out of there, especially in the rear where it settles. I made such a blow gun from soft copper tubing, and again I have the vacuum sucking on nearby holes while blowing into the coolant hole.
 
De-carboning valves and Pistons is actually part of the job when pulling a cylinder head. The job time manuals (chiltons) has that listed as a supplement to the overall job.
 
Mitch//pa said:
De-carboning valves and Pistons is actually part of the job when pulling a cylinder head. The job time manuals (chiltons) has that listed as a supplement to the overall job.
Click to expand...


This is from the Dykes manual Model A section;
 

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Are you running an in-hose thermostat? I had that overheating for nearly a year and then realized that the thermostat was in the hose backwards. Dumb... But that eliminated the problem. I also a little off the impeller blades of the water pump. It was pumping too fast. Also drilled a 1/8th inch hole in the thermostat for relief.. Don't have the problem anymore.
 
Even if you're SO CAREFUL about cleanliness, when doing a head gasket, after a few miles, you should do a BACKFLUSH.
Once had a '59 Studebaker Lark that would overheat above 55 MPH. AH HA, head gasket scrapings in the top of radiator tubes! QUICK backflush & it was perfect!!
Bill W.
 
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