Technique for De-Varnishing piston/cylinders?

Tell us what you do to get the best performance from your engines.

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sgilkey
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Technique for De-Varnishing piston/cylinders?

Post by sgilkey »

I have a Norvel which has very little run time but is heavily varnished on the cylinder wall. I have never encountered a problem quite like this before. The only engines I have devarnished are Coxes, where I used steel wool. This works OK since it is a steel cylinder. WIth the oxide coated aluminum Norvel cylinder, I doubt steel wool is the proper material- I was thinking of trying Scotchbrite. Has anybody had success with devarnishing coated/plated cylinders, and if so, what abrasive material did you use? This is not the type of varnish that will come off in the crockpot- this is baked-on combustion residue that is really tenacious. Thanks for any suggestions.
aseaholm
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Post by aseaholm »

Scott,

A pylon guy, Randy Bridge (I know, name dropper [:)] ), told me he uses a non-abrasive aluminum polish called “Blue Magicâ€
Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Scott,
I am going to try to clean up the pistons of my Norvels by running fuel injector cleaner through them while doing bench testing. I worry that the carbon on the top of the piston, which is decreasing cylinder volume slight, thereby raising the compression ratio may cause them to drop rpms. We'll see.

I plan to use an eyedropper to dribble injector cleaner into the venturi while the engine is running. I have heard, but cannot confirm, that this technique works well. I have also heard of folks putting it in their fuel as standard operating procedure but I do not plan on that, just to run some through the engine during testing.

If it works I will post before and after photos so folks can see the results.
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lightning
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Post by lightning »

Well Lou, we're still waiting to hear about the 3000 rpms you picked up by using this stuff!
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

I used Scotchbrite on my Norvel. That AAO coating is hard as can be. I scrubbed an old high-silicon piston and Norvel liner and looked at them under the scope at work, and they looked fine. I don't think scotchbrite will harm these materials if used in moderation.
wparmenter
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Post by wparmenter »

Now I can have the wife clean up my engines for me. When I tell her to start doing dishes after she gets me a beer and my slippers I can tell her to get my engines out of the shop and wash them too!
I guess Scott got the idea while he was getting the bon-bons for his wife, putting on his apron and getting to work on the dishes.
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

Shhh Wes, don't tell anybody. With me using the wife's email address I get enough grief as it is!!!
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