proper way to clean crankshaft oil galleys ?

[54 HSWH]

?

I ASSuME Hudson crankshafts collect dirt and debris during normal operation; this is because of the centrifugal action to which the oil is subjected to flowing through the crankshaft.

One might ASSuME the only way to clean the galleys is to hot tank the crank, but as I reviewed my block yesterday I found heavy accumulations of dirt and grime above the UPPER block's web reinforcing.

Initially I spent much time attempting to clean it WITHOUT first removing the freeze, oil and cam plugs, and the assembled valve train (done by machine shop).

After sleeping on it, this am I removed all the plugs and the valve train (bare block now).

Then I decided on recleaning the block a better way using Simply green, 3/4" pipe brush in the main oil galley (the gunk that accumulates in the galleys is truly amazing), hi-pressure wash everything including the water jackets THOROUGHLY (over & over, and rotating the block on the engine stand to allow the water to exit in different directions), wire brush stubborn external areas, followed by drying it off immediately with forced air, plus lubing approprate areas to prevent rust; to be prepped later for priming and painting.

Back to the crankshaft:

I think some people might overlook what I call a critical step in engine preparation, and that includes taking an extra step of cleaning the crankshaft galleys (~.200" dia). This engine had sat on a garage floor for 46 years and the oil had turned to grease - it was full of sludgy krap (looked like they ran non-detergent oil in it) that must be removed as much as is possible, at least in my opinion. There is too much invested when rebuilding an engine to not go the last mile.

Perhaps many ASSuME when the Hudson crankshaft is hot-tanked that all of the crud & gunk is cleaned out from the galleys; I suspect that is a false assumption, especially if the crankshaft has been turned-never ASSuME that the grinder THOROUGHLY cleaned the galleys; BE SURE before you install it!

Any of you crankshaft experts have any suggestions?

THANKS

[hudsonguy]

54 HSWH,

Lord knows I'm no crankshaft expert....but my next door neighbor is! Really. He's a motor head that builds racecars in his spare time, and grinds cranks from 8-5 everyday. He even recently did my 262 crankshaft when I rebuilt my engine last winter. He recommended using lots of aerosol brake cleaner, and a long thin brush to clean these passages out really well.

You're absolutely right, I know this crucially important step is sometimes overlooked. In my case, when I got the crankshaft back after hot tanking, magnafluxing, grinding, bead blasting, etc., it was wrapped in a big plastic bag, covered with ATF. It looked perfect and ready to install. Your first instinct is to take it from the bag straight to the block, but these passages are typically not cleaned at the end of the machine shops work, and there will be traces of nasty stuff in there that will be deposited directly on your new bearings the first time you start the engine.

I've even heard of a guy that took out at least two crankshafts (I think they were SBC's) before he figured out what was causing it, and it was indeed leftover gunk in the oil passages of the crank.