the outside of the block is not dirty really im more worried about the hard water buildup/corrosion on the jackets 
A hot-tank will get most of the crud out of there just fine.
well since tricky ricky decided to sell me that block and i decided it was fucking hot outside ricky came over and talked me into strippin it down today so this is the block in my truck
and tricky decided my coffee table wasnt fucked up enough lol and decided taht he could watch tv while working
and now my pile of parts is freakin huge
Everything seemed suprisingly in pretty damn condition considering the mileage on the motor im not sure what to do about that corrosion or whatever on the outside of the sleevesā¦ Bruce at ACE Machine said aluminum motors cant be soda blasted or hot tanked so idk what other options i have If anyone has any ideas feel free to chime in.
I would like to get that all cleaned up so as to install the block guard but if not possible i guess i will x the block guard idea and just get sleeves.
[QUOTE=icemanGSR;2161399]You do NOT hot tank aluminum blocks. They blast them sometimes but the heat can cause more harm than good.
FYI for future readers - - - Steel wool, brakleen, wire brush, eagle one etching mag wheel cleaner, and Eastwood Alumablast = win. Do NOT get the cleaner anywhere near the cyl walls or jackets.[/QUOTE]
There are chemicals these days that they use to āhot-tankā aluminum blocks. It may not be the exact traditional way they did back on hot-rods way back when. But yes, you can still hot-tank a honda block. Agreed, they sometimes blast them, which is why I mentioned soda-blasting itā¦ But if you go to a machine shop that says hot-tank cant be done, then it sounds to me like they dont deal with many honda motors and I would suggest going elsewhere.
i guess that means im gonna have to go out of town there is only 3 machine shops in this town that have any kind of business and ACE deals with imports alot but maybe he just doesnt want my business
Incorrect. A knowledgeable shop with honda experience will NOT hot tank the block. This is widespread common knowledge. It can be done, but it should not be done. There is a misconception about hot tanking vs jet washing both of which use hot water. But the chemicals used in a hot tank are for cast iron only. Jet washing uses heated degreaser. Many people use them interchangeably. The acids and chemicals in a traditional hot tank will eat away at the soft aluminum. There are aluminum specific cleaners in hot tank setups at motorcycle shops but those setups are quite different, and i highly doubt a mainstream machine shop uses the same stuff. Motorcycle shops usually do all their own work. Aluminum blocks should be washed and scrubbed. If you want the hot tanking look, use Alumablast product on it after itās clean and BONE DRY. You do not need to pay a shop to do this, just get some materials yourself and spend some time on it in the yard.
āIncorrectā? Yet you say that there are aluminum-specific chemicals that can be used in a hot-tank. Is that not what I said in my last post? āIt may not be the exact traditional way they did on hot-rods way back whenā¦ But yes you can hot-tank a Honda blockā
Iām not trying to nit-pick here. Maybe the place I went to did āJet washā my blockā¦ but they used the term hot-tank. And about 50% or the machine work they do is Honda related, so Iām positive they know the doās and dontās as far as aluminum blocks go.
Bottom lineā¦ Can a Honda motor be hot-tanked? Yes. If the shop is set up to do it.
[QUOTE=unified112;2161799]āIncorrectā? Yet you say that there are aluminum-specific chemicals that can be used in a hot-tank. Is that not what I said in my last post? āIt may not be the exact traditional way they did on hot-rods way back whenā¦ But yes you can hot-tank a Honda blockā
Iām not trying to nit-pick here. Maybe the place I went to did āJet washā my blockā¦ but they used the term hot-tank. And about 50% or the machine work they do is Honda related, so Iām positive they know the doās and dontās as far as aluminum blocks go.
Bottom lineā¦ Can a Honda motor be hot-tanked? Yes. If the shop is set up to do it.[/QUOTE]
you truncated the part about motorcycle shops. last time i saw one, it wasnāt big enough to fit a honda block inside it. and since so many machine shops cater more towards the iron block domestic crowd, itās a reasonable assumption that they wouldnāt keep aluminum specifics on hand. i just called the two major shops here in town and they even said itās expensive to keep a machine for cleaning aluminum blocks when some scrubbing and elbow grease will do the job well enough. I have yet to see or hear of a traditional machine shop with a real hot tank actually set up for aluminum.
just fyi . . . if it was a common practice to hot tank aluminum blocks, places like golden eagle wouldnāt void their sleeving warranty if you get your block hot tanked after theyāve worked on it.
The bottom line here is KNOW what to ask your machine shop and make sure they arenāt throwing your block into a hot tank machine, but rather washing it properly.
I like the idea of ultrasonic cleaning. That way you donāt have to worry about harsh chemicals at all. As a side, I think Iām going to be picking up this small unit from Amazon for cleaning misc bolts and parts for my build. Iāll let everyone know if I figure out a magical cleaning solution to use with it. The basket is large enough on this one to actually fit a full sized 1911 slide too, so that is a bonus if you are in to that kind of thing. 
Wishihadahonda, there should be Honda builders in San Antonio and I know for a fact there are Honda builders in Houston. I would start calling places and the first guy you talk to who isnāt a total douche on the phone is who I would pick. Or maybe just find a place with an ultrasonic cleaner (assuming they are safe for Al.) and get them to clean it and then get ACE to build it. With the exception of the head port work, I have found no hard evidence that suggests building a Honda engine is any different than building any other kind of engine as long as you know exactly what machining needs to be done and what your clearances need to be. Any competent machine shop should be able to tell you what kind of tolerances they can accomplish.