F-head water jacket corrosion

[Derstrom]

I am refurbishing a govt surplus rebuild f-head crate engine. So far ive found everything in good order or found the repairs needed. One issue is the rust and gunk sitting in the bottom of the block water jackets. When we pulled the head for inspection we found they had left a little bit of water from the test stand run-in and it made a mess. Weve flushed it out and the water is coming out clean now. Any ideas what we should do going forward? (Except hot tanking the whole thing)

[wesk]

When we find issues like this on old engines, no matter the circumstance the engine was presented to us in, we must make a determination of the extent we are willing to take on any necessary corrective actions. Without a visible display of the damage you are dealing with we can only offer guesses for help.

In the case of some evidence of rusty sludge remaining in an engine that hasn't been operated in many years the only perfectly safe solution is to hot tank it. Using the little half step actions in between that are often available to us can go either way. At the very least a thorough investigation of the extent of the rust formations in the entire block and head require a partial teardown. If you follow this basic industry rule to thoroughly inspect, it places you at the decision point that clearly points to a hot tanking. If you insist on avoiding hot tanking and teardowns at all costs then you must bear the final responsibility for any future failures caused by your lack of definitive action.

Is this a wordy reply? Yes it is but without a very clear description of the extent of contamination and some photographic evidence, preferably from a borescope inspection, an outsider who wishes to be helpful to you cannot, with any degree of good conscience offer any other advice.