[david Moseley]

 

Having finally removed the cylinder head of my Palm Beach and taken it to be overhauled I am left with a rather sad looking set of piston heads with a lot of carbon deposits. Is this what I should expect. On the plus side the bores look unmarked. What is the best way to clean up the pistons without getting stuff falling into the gap. I was told to put some grease round the edge of the pistons to seal the gap. Any advice would be helpful.Thanks

David

[Rick Newman]

Hi David

Glad to see you managed to remove the head,the carbon build up does not look to bad from the pictures. The best thing in my mind would be to do 1 piston at a time turn the engine so the piston your are doing is below the bore then put the grease around the bore then turn the engine so the piston is back at the top you can then lightly clean the piston (don’t scrape it) I would use a little brake cleaner just to loosen the carbon then wipe of with a cloth.Then turn the engine so the piston is below the top of the bore and wipe the grease off making sure nothing falls into the bore,then repeat on the other cylinders.

Rick.

[Ben Stevens]

if you get around to doing this yourself please do share some pictures and a progress report.

[Ron Dowle]

Yes, it will be interesting to see what ideas people come up with to help you David and how yet on. Its exactly the type of question that would have been featured in the ‘Practical Motorist And Motor Cyclist Magazine’ in the 1950,s

[Rick Newman]

Don’t forget to clean the block surface before you refit the head David.The best way to do this is with wd40 and fine emery cloth,but first put absorbent paper in each bore as you clean so it catches any fluid and bits of carbon.Just do it slowly and gently till you get through to clean metal.

[Ron Dowle]

Rick, what would you use to clean off the carbon from the pistons. is it possible to use a  wood or plastic scraper ?

 

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